Kaul, MD v. Oetken
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-06495
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Kaul v. Oetken, Judge Swain ordered the pro se plaintiff to pay $405 or submit an application to proceed without paying fees.
The pro se plaintiff must either pay $405 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days. No summons will issue for now, and failure to comply will result in dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Kaul, MD v. Oetken, the plaintiff filed a civil action without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without paying them.
The court ordered the plaintiff, within 30 days, either to pay $405 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. No summons will issue at this time. If the plaintiff does not comply, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Kaul, MD v. Oetken · No. 1:25-cv-06495
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 13, 2025
Background
The plaintiff brought this civil action pro se, meaning without a lawyer. The complaint was filed without the required filing fees and without an application to proceed without prepaying fees, also called an application to proceed in forma pauperis.
Order
The court explained that proceeding with a civil action requires either paying $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submitting a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying fees. The court ordered the plaintiff to take one of those steps within 30 days of the order. Any application should identify docket number 1:25-CV-6495 (LTS). If the court grants the application, the plaintiff may proceed without prepaying the fees.
No summons will issue at this time. If the plaintiff complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If the plaintiff does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal
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.