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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Oct. 15, 2025

ABC v. DEF

Judge
Laura Swain
Docket
1:25-cv-03487
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
1
Civil ProcedurePro Se
In one sentence

In ABC v. DEF, Judge Swain gave ABC 30 days to hire a lawyer or withdraw the case, warning it would otherwise be dismissed without prejudice.

Who this affects

Plaintiff ABC, who must retain an attorney or withdraw the action within 30 days to avoid dismissal without prejudice.

What happened

In ABC v. DEF, the court addressed a prior order giving ABC 30 days to retain an attorney or withdraw the action. The court said that order had not been mailed because of an administrative error.

The court ordered that both the May 6, 2025 order and this order be mailed to ABC. ABC must follow the earlier order, and the action will be dismissed without prejudice if ABC does not retain an attorney or withdraw the action within 30 days of this order.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying appeal fees. The court did not decide the underlying claims.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
ABC v. DEF · No. 1:25-cv-03487
Judge
Laura Swain
Date
Oct. 15, 2025

Background

On May 6, 2025, the Court gave Plaintiff ABC 30 days to either retain an attorney or withdraw the action. The Court stated that, because of an administrative error, the May 6 order was not mailed to Plaintiff.

Order

The Court ordered that the May 6 order and the October 15 order be mailed to Plaintiff at the address on record. Plaintiff must comply with the instructions in the May 6 order. If Plaintiff does not retain an attorney or withdraw the action within 30 days of the October 15 order, the action will be dismissed without prejudice and judgment will enter.

Appeal

The Court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without paying the required fees.

Disposition

The Court did not dismiss the action in this order and did not decide the underlying claims. Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain entered the order.

The authoritative version

Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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