Ballonoff v. Lucas
- Jon Tigar
- 4:19-cv-01337
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Ballonoff v. Lucas, Judge Tigar ordered Selene Ballonoff to serve defendants, obtain waivers, or explain by May 20, 2020, before possible dismissal.
Selene Ballonoff was required to serve Tom Lucas and the other defendants, obtain waivers of service, or explain by May 20, 2020 why the case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute.
What happened
In Ballonoff v. Lucas, Selene Ballonoff filed a complaint without a lawyer on March 12, 2019, but had not served Tom Lucas or the other defendants more than a year later.
A prior order gave Ballonoff 45 days to serve the defendants or obtain waivers of service, but that deadline passed without either occurring. The court ordered her to complete service, obtain waivers, or explain by May 20, 2020, why the case should not be dismissed for failing to move it forward.
Judge Tigar issued an order to show cause; he did not dismiss the case in this order. The order states that failure to respond could lead to dismissal for failure to prosecute.
The detailed version
- Ballonoff v. Lucas · No. 4:19-cv-01337
- Jon Tigar
- Apr. 29, 2020
Background
Selene Ballonoff filed the complaint without a lawyer on March 12, 2019. The opinion states that she had not served Tom Lucas or the other defendants. In an earlier order, Judge Chen reminded Ballonoff that she had to serve every defendant and directed her to resources for people representing themselves. In another earlier order, Judge Chen granted Ballonoff’s request to transfer the case to Oakland and gave her 45 days to obtain waivers of service.
Order
The 45-day deadline had passed, and Ballonoff had neither served the defendants nor obtained waivers of service. The court explained that district courts have authority under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), as well as inherent authority, to dismiss an action for failure to prosecute. The court then ordered Ballonoff, by May 20, 2020, to serve the defendants, obtain waivers of service, or show cause—give a sufficient explanation—why the case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute.
Disposition
Judge Tigar issued an order to show cause. This order did not dismiss the case; it required Ballonoff to take one of the specified actions or explain why dismissal should not occur.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.