Shteierman v. Lufthansa German Airlines
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-08042
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Shteierman v. Lufthansa German Airlines, Judge Swain ordered payment of fees or an application to proceed without prepayment.
Yitzchok Shteierman must either pay $405 in fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days; failure to comply will result in dismissal of the action.
What happened
In Yitzchok Shteierman v. Lufthansa German Airlines, the pro se plaintiff filed a complaint without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court ordered Shteierman, within 30 days, to pay $405 or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepayment. The court also directed that no summons issue at that time.
Judge Swain stated that the action will be dismissed if Shteierman does not comply. She also denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Shteierman v. Lufthansa German Airlines · No. 1:25-cv-08042
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 8, 2025
Background
Yitzchok Shteierman filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required filing and administrative fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application.
Order
The court explained that a plaintiff must either pay $405 in fees—$350 for filing and $55 for administration—or submit a signed IFP application requesting permission to proceed without prepayment. The court ordered Shteierman to do one of those two things within 30 days of the order. If the court grants the IFP application, Shteierman may proceed without paying the fees in advance.
The court directed that no summons issue at that time. It stated that, if Shteierman complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal.
Judge
Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued and signed the order.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.