JTH Tax, Inc. v. Sawhney
- Alison Nathan
- 1:19-cv-04035
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In JTH Tax, Inc. v. Sawhney, Judge Nathan ordered plaintiffs to prove service before considering default judgment and warned of possible dismissal.
JTH Tax, Inc. and Siempretaxt+ LLC must file proof of service of the default-judgment motion and the November 26, 2019 order by January 28, 2020. The order concerns their request for default judgment against Pawanmeet Sawhney.
What happened
In JTH Tax, Inc. v. Sawhney, JTH Tax, Inc. and Siempretaxt+ LLC asked the court to enter default judgment against Pawanmeet Sawhney.
The court had not received proof that the plaintiffs served the default-judgment motion or the court’s November 26, 2019 order. It ordered the plaintiffs to file both proofs of service by January 28, 2020.
Judge Alison J. Nathan did not decide the default-judgment motion. She warned that failing to file the required proof by the deadline may lead to dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claim for failure to prosecute.
The detailed version
- JTH Tax, Inc. v. Sawhney · No. 1:19-cv-04035
- Alison Nathan
- Jan. 14, 2020
Background
JTH Tax, Inc. doing business as Liberty Tax Service, and Siempretaxt+ LLC moved for default judgment against Pawanmeet Sawhney on December 5, 2019. A default judgment is a judgment requested when a party has not defended the case.
Service Requirements
The court’s Individual Civil Rule 3L requires a plaintiff to serve the default-judgment motion and supporting papers on the opposing party and file an affidavit of service within fourteen days after filing the motion. The rule states that the court will not consider the motion until the affidavit is filed. The plaintiffs also had been directed to file proof that they served the court’s November 26, 2019 order.
Order
The court stated that it had not received proof of service for either the default-judgment motion or the November 26 order. It ordered the plaintiffs to file both proofs of service by January 28, 2020. The court did not rule on the default-judgment motion. It warned that failing to meet the deadline may result in dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claim for failure to prosecute, meaning failure to move the case forward. Judge Alison J. Nathan entered the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.