Finley v. Przybylowski
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-04383
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Finley v. Przybylowski, Chief Judge Swain ordered Plaintiff to pay filing fees or submit a fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Isabel P. Finley must either pay $405 in fees or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. No summons will issue and no answer will be required before compliance.
What happened
In Finley v. Przybylowski, the court addressed only the requirements for starting the civil action. The action had been submitted by email, and the court had assigned it a docket number.
The court ordered Plaintiff, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in fees or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without paying the fees in advance. The court would take no further action, and no summons or answer would be required, until one of those steps occurred.
If Plaintiff did not comply or request more time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Finley v. Przybylowski · No. 1:25-cv-04383
- Laura Swain
- May 29, 2025
Background
The action was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by email and assigned the listed docket number. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims or the parties’ dispute.
Filing-fee requirement
The court explained that a plaintiff starting a civil action must either pay the required fees or request permission to proceed without prepaying them. The total fee identified in the order was $405, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee.
Within 30 days of the order, Plaintiff was required either to pay the $405 or complete, sign, and submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application. The order gave payment instructions and stated that personal checks would not be accepted.
No further action would be taken, and no summons would issue or answer would be required, until the fees were paid or a completed and signed application was received. If the court granted the application, Plaintiff would be permitted to proceed without prepaying the fees.
Disposition
The order directed Plaintiff to pay the fees or submit the application within the stated period. It further stated that, if Plaintiff failed to comply or failed to request an extension of time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.