Gil v. Dopico
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-07274
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Aida R. Gil v. Jorge Dopico, Chief Judge Swain ordered payment or an amended fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Aida R. Gil, who is representing herself; the action will be dismissed if she does not comply with the order within 30 days.
What happened
In Aida R. Gil v. Jorge Dopico, Aida R. Gil asked to proceed without paying the court fees. She submitted an unsigned affidavit, rather than the court’s standard application, and did not provide enough financial information to show that she could not pay.
The court ordered Gil, within 30 days, either to pay $405 or complete, sign, and submit an amended application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court stated that it would allow her to proceed without prepaying only if it grants the amended application. No summons will issue for now, and the court warned that the action will be dismissed if she does not comply.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Gil v. Dopico · No. 1:25-cv-07274
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 16, 2025
Background
Aida R. Gil brought this action without a lawyer. To proceed, she had to either pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an application to proceed in forma pauperis. Gil did not submit the court’s standard application. Instead, she submitted an unsigned affidavit stating that she is self-employed and is awaiting contracts for several projects. The court found that the affidavit did not provide enough information about her finances to establish that she could not pay the fees.
Order
The court ordered Gil, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the $405 in fees, or complete, sign, and submit the attached amended application. The amended application must use docket number 25-CV-7274 (LTS) and provide facts addressing why she cannot pay the fees. If the court grants the amended application, Gil may proceed without prepaying the fees. No summons will issue at this time. If Gil complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures; if she does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal and disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied authorization to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the underlying claims against Jorge Dopico or Robert F. Murphy.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.