McKnight v. N.A.I.C.A.
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:19-cv-05271
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In McKnight v. N.A.I.C.A., Judge Ronnie Abrams ordered McKnight to respond to a pending dismissal motion or risk dismissal for failing to prosecute.
Plaintiff Therin B. McKnight was required to respond by May 8, 2020 or face the possible dismissal described in the order. The defendants were directed to mail him a copy of the order.
What happened
McKnight v. N.A.I.C.A. involves a motion by the defendants to dismiss Therin B. McKnight’s complaint. The court had already given McKnight two extensions to respond.
After McKnight requested another extension, the court still had not received a response. The court ordered him to respond by May 8, 2020, or submit a letter saying he would not respond.
Judge Ronnie Abrams did not decide the dismissal motion in this order. She warned that failing to respond to the order would lead the court to dismiss the action for failure to prosecute under Rule 41(b).
The detailed version
- McKnight v. N.A.I.C.A. · No. 1:19-cv-05271
- Ronnie Abrams
- Apr. 17, 2020
Background
On September 24, 2019, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss McKnight’s complaint. The court granted McKnight two extensions to respond. On December 30, 2019, because no response had been received, the court ordered McKnight either to respond to the motion or to send a letter stating that he did not intend to respond. The court said that, in the latter situation, it would treat the motion as fully submitted for decision.
On January 15, 2020, McKnight requested a third extension, until February 5, 2020. The court stated that it still had not received his response.
Order
The court ordered McKnight, no later than May 8, 2020, to file a response to the motion to dismiss or a letter stating that he did not intend to file a response. If McKnight intended to continue the case but chose not to file a response, the court would treat the motion as fully submitted and decide it. If he did not respond to this order, the court stated that it would dismiss the action for failure to prosecute under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b).
The court also directed the defendants to promptly mail McKnight a copy of the order. Because of the ongoing global health crisis, the court directed McKnight to submit filings by email to the specified Southern District of New York filing address and encouraged him to consent to electronic service.
Effect of the Order
The order did not decide the defendants’ motion to dismiss and did not dismiss the action. It set a deadline and warned of a possible future dismissal if McKnight failed to respond. Judge Ronnie Abrams signed the order on April 17, 2020.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.