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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Dec. 17, 2019

Murphy v. Spruce Row, Inc.

Judge
Ronnie Abrams
Docket
1:19-cv-08041
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
1
Civil ProcedureClass Action
In one sentence

In Murphy v. Spruce Row, Inc., Judge Abrams discontinued the settled case without costs and allowed timely restoration.

Who this affects

James Murphy and Spruce Row, Inc. The case was closed after the reported settlement, subject to a possible restoration application within 45 days and the order’s stated requirements for retaining court authority to enforce the settlement.

What happened

In Murphy v. Spruce Row, Inc., the court was informed that James Murphy and Spruce Row, Inc. had reached a settlement.

The court discontinued the action without costs to either party. It allowed the case to be restored if an application was filed within 45 days and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.

Judge Ronnie Abrams also stated that any request for the court to retain power to enforce the settlement had to place the agreement on the public record and obtain the court’s approval within the period stated in the order.

The detailed version

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

Case
Murphy v. Spruce Row, Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-08041
Judge
Ronnie Abrams
Date
Dec. 17, 2019

Background

James Murphy brought the action individually and on behalf of other similarly situated persons against Spruce Row, Inc. The opinion states only that the court was informed that the parties had reached a settlement; it does not describe the claims or the settlement’s terms.

Court’s Action

The court ordered that the action be discontinued without costs to any party and without prejudice to restoring the action to the court’s docket if an application to restore it was made within 45 days. It stated that a later application could be denied solely because it was untimely. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the case.

The court also stated that, if the parties wanted the court to retain jurisdiction—meaning continuing authority—to enforce the settlement agreement, the agreement’s terms had to be placed on the public record and approved by the court within the same 30-day period identified in the order. The order cited Hendrickson v. United States, 791 F.3d 354, 358 (2d Cir. 2015).

Disposition

Judge Ronnie Abrams discontinued the action without costs and without prejudice to timely restoration, and directed that the case be closed. The order did not decide the underlying claims.

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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