Hodges v. McGough Enterprises LLC
- Nelson Roman
- 7:23-cv-05016
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Hodges v. McGough Enterprises, Judge Roman denied without prejudice Plaintiff’s motions to dismiss counterclaims and seek protective and injunctive orders.
Plaintiff, who represented himself, must obtain the court’s permission before renewing the motion to dismiss Defendants’ counterclaims and requests to seek protective and injunctive relief.
What happened
In Hodges v. McGough Enterprises LLC et al., Plaintiff asked to dismiss Defendants’ counterclaims and sought permission to file motions for a protective order and a preliminary injunction. Plaintiff represented himself without a lawyer.
The court denied the motion to dismiss counterclaims because Plaintiff had not first obtained the required court permission. It also found that Plaintiff had not provided enough facts or legal support for a protective order or preliminary injunction.
Judge Nelson S. Roman denied all three requests without prejudice to renew. The clerk was directed to mail the order to Plaintiff and terminate the motion to dismiss counterclaims.
The detailed version
- Hodges v. McGough Enterprises LLC · No. 7:23-cv-05016
- Nelson Roman
- Oct. 15, 2025
Background
On October 8, 2025, Plaintiff filed a motion to dismiss Defendants’ counterclaims. The court’s Individual Practice Rules required Plaintiff to obtain the court’s permission before filing that motion. Plaintiff also sent a separate letter seeking permission to file a motion for a protective order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) and a motion for a preliminary injunction under Rule 65.
Protective-order request
A protective order is a court order designed to protect a person or party involved in discovery from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense. The court explained that the party seeking such an order must show good cause. Plaintiff gave a few examples of conduct by the Individual Named Defendant that Plaintiff described as harassing and annoying, but did not identify when the conduct occurred or show that it reached the level of harassment covered by Rule 26. The court therefore denied the application to file a Rule 26 motion. The court also stated that it retains broad discretion to issue a protective order if circumstances later warrant one.
Preliminary-injunction request
A preliminary injunction is a court order issued before final judgment that provides temporary relief. The court stated that Plaintiff supplied no factual or legal basis for this relief and therefore denied the request for permission to file a Rule 65 motion.
Rulings
The court denied Plaintiff’s motion to dismiss Defendants’ counterclaims without prejudice to renew because Plaintiff had not followed the court’s requirement to seek permission before filing it. The court also denied, without prejudice to renew, both requests for permission to file motions for a protective order and a preliminary injunction. The clerk was directed to mail the endorsement to Plaintiff at the address listed in the electronic filing system and terminate the motion at ECF No. 103. The order addressed filing requirements and the adequacy of Plaintiff’s requests; it did not decide the underlying counterclaims.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.