Berlin v. Joshua Harris Eggnatz
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-08733
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Aron Berlin v. Joshua Harris Eggnatz, Judge Swain transferred Berlin’s pro se claims to Florida because that district was more convenient.
Aron Berlin, Joshua Harris Eggnatz, and Eggnatz Pascucci are affected by the transfer of the action from the Southern District of New York to the Southern District of Florida. The merits of Berlin’s claims were not decided.
What happened
In Aron Berlin v. Joshua Harris Eggnatz, Aron Berlin sued Joshua Harris Eggnatz and Eggnatz Pascucci over state-law claims involving alleged defamatory and threatening communications. Berlin filed the case in the Southern District of New York and represented himself.
The court transferred the case to the Southern District of Florida. It explained that the defendants were located there and that many important events allegedly occurred there, including the alleged conspiracy and the writing and sending of the challenged statement. The court also said relevant witnesses and documents were likely to be there.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain did not decide whether Berlin’s claims were legally valid. The order directs the clerk to transfer the case, says no summons will issue from the New York court, closes the case there, and denies permission to appeal without paying fees.
The detailed version
- Berlin v. Joshua Harris Eggnatz · No. 1:25-cv-08733
- Laura Swain
- Nov. 7, 2025
Background
Aron Berlin, representing himself, brought state-law claims for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy. He invoked the court’s diversity-of-citizenship jurisdiction. The defendants were Joshua Harris Eggnatz and the law firm Eggnatz Pascucci. The opinion states that Berlin resides in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, and that both defendants are located in Davie, Broward County, Florida.
Berlin alleged that the defendants conspired in Davie to send defamatory and threatening communications from Davie to him in Brooklyn. He argued that a substantial part of the events occurred in the Southern District of New York because he resides in Brooklyn. The court explained that Brooklyn is in the Eastern District of New York, not the Southern District of New York. It stated that venue might also be proper in the Eastern District of New York if the alleged statement was published in Brooklyn, and that venue could arguably be proper in the Southern District of New York because the statement allegedly related to an action Berlin had filed there.
Transfer analysis
The court determined that venue was proper in the Southern District of Florida because the defendants reside there and because a substantial part of the events underlying the claims occurred there. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), a court may transfer a case, even when venue is proper, to another district where the case could have been brought when transfer would serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and the interests of justice.
The court concluded that transfer appeared appropriate. It emphasized that most of the underlying events occurred in Davie, where the defendants reside, and that relevant documents and witnesses could reasonably be expected to be there. It found the Southern District of Florida appeared to be a more convenient forum.
Disposition
The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The clerk was directed to carry out the transfer. The court stated that the transferee court would decide whether Berlin could continue without prepaying filing fees. A summons was not to issue from the Southern District of New York, and the order closed the case in that court.
The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order addressed venue and convenience only; it did not decide the merits of Berlin’s defamation, emotional-distress, or conspiracy claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.