Johnson v. Graphite Solutions, Inc.
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-03184
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Johnson v. Graphite Solutions, Judge Swain declined to reopen the dismissed case, allowing Johnson to refile with the correct fee.
Danielle Johnson’s closed federal case and any appeal from this order; Graphite Solutions, Inc. is affected because the action against it remains closed.
What happened
Danielle Johnson sued Graphite Solutions, Inc. without a lawyer. The court dismissed the action after Johnson neither paid the required $405 filing fee nor applied to proceed without paying it, and judgment was entered.
Johnson later told the court that she had sent a $402 money order, which the court never received. She asked for permission to submit the correct payment.
The court did not reopen the case. Judge Swain explained that payment received after dismissal was not a reason to reopen the action, but because the dismissal was without prejudice, Johnson may file the complaint again with the $405 fee as a new case. The court also denied payment-free status for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. Graphite Solutions, Inc. · No. 1:25-cv-03184
- Laura Swain
- July 1, 2025
Background
Danielle Johnson brought this action without a lawyer. In an order dated June 18, 2025, the court dismissed the action because Johnson had not paid the $405 filing fee required to bring a civil action or submitted an application to proceed without paying the fee. Judgment was entered on June 20, 2025.
Request to Reopen
On July 1, 2025, Johnson filed a letter stating that she had sent the court a $402 money order by UPS on April 16, 2025. She said the court’s Finance Department confirmed that it had not received the money order and told her that the required fee was $405, not $402. Johnson asked to submit payment in the correct amount.
Ruling
The court declined to reopen the action. It held that receiving the required fee after the action had been dismissed was not a ground to reopen it. The court noted that the dismissal was without prejudice, meaning Johnson may file the complaint again and pay the $405 filing fee. A refiled complaint would be opened as a new civil action and assigned a new docket number; the current action remains closed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied payment-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.