Derek Keith Williams Individually and as Trustee of DKW Trust v. Chesapeake…
Derek Keith Williams Individually and as Trustee of DKW Trust; Sokhara Kim v. Chesapeake Holdings WV VI, LLC; M&T Bank, N.A.; Michael C Bartolotti; Michael J. Lewis; Kevin J. McConville; Deputy William Verrastro; Hon. Timothy J. Walker, J.C.C.; Hon. Gina C. Capone; Hon. Camille S. Linson; Frances Fredericks; Robert V. Tendy; Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Federal Reserve Board of Governors (Jerome H. Powell, Philip N. Jefferson, Michael S. Barr, Michelle W. Bowman, Lisa D. Cook, Adriana D. Kugler, Christopher J. Waller); Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-07290
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Derek Keith Williams v. Chesapeake Holdings WV VI, LLC, Judge Swain denied preliminary-injunction and temporary-restraining-order requests.
Derek Keith Williams and Sokhara Kim were denied a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order; permission to appeal without paying filing fees was also denied.
What happened
Derek Keith Williams v. Chesapeake Holdings WV VI, LLC involves plaintiffs Derek Keith Williams and Sokhara Kim, who were proceeding without lawyers and asked the court for a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order.
The court said their submissions did not show that it had authority over their claims or the defendants. The submissions also did not clearly explain many of the claims or show that they were supported by applicable law. As a result, the court could not find the required likelihood of success or sufficiently serious legal questions combined with hardships strongly favoring the plaintiffs.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied both requests. She also denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees, certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The court said it would issue a more detailed explanation later.
The detailed version
- Derek Keith Williams Individually and as Trustee of DKW Trust v. Chesapeake… · No. 1:25-cv-07290
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 8, 2025
What the plaintiffs requested
Derek Keith Williams and Sokhara Kim, proceeding without lawyers, moved for a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order. These are emergency forms of court relief that can temporarily require or prohibit conduct while a case continues.
Legal standard
The court explained that plaintiffs seeking this relief must show likely irreparable harm and either a likelihood of succeeding on the merits or sufficiently serious legal questions to justify litigation, together with a balance of hardships strongly favoring them. The court described preliminary relief as an extraordinary remedy requiring a clear showing by the person seeking it.
Court’s reasoning
The court said the plaintiffs’ submissions did not demonstrate that the court had jurisdiction—that is, legal authority—over the claims or the defendants. The submissions also did not make clear the nature of many claims or show that the claims had a proper foundation in applicable law. For those reasons, the court could not conclude that the plaintiffs had shown either a likelihood of success on the merits or sufficiently serious legal questions combined with a hardship balance strongly favoring them.
Ruling
The court denied the plaintiffs’ requests for a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order. The order did not decide the underlying claims. The court stated that it would issue a more extensive explanatory order later.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees for that appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.