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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled May 12, 2020

Mendez v. Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art Inc.

Judge
Alison Nathan
Docket
1:19-cv-11534
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Civil Procedure
In one sentence

In Mendez v. Sadigh Gallery, Judge Nathan ordered Mendez to seek default judgment or explain the delay, adjourned the conference, and required service.

Who this affects

Himelda Mendez and Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art Inc.; the order required Mendez to take specified procedural steps because Sadigh Gallery had not filed an answer or other response.

What happened

In Mendez v. Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art Inc., the court noted that the defendant had not filed an answer or other response by the deadline shown in the affidavit of service.

The court ordered the plaintiff, within three weeks, to seek a certificate of default and move for a judgment because the defendant did not appear, or file a status update explaining why she should not do so. The court also required her to serve the order on the defendant within one week and file proof of service.

Judge Alison J. Nathan adjourned the initial pretrial conference from May 22, 2020, to June 26, 2020, and warned that failure to act could lead to dismissal of the claims with prejudice for failure to prosecute.

The detailed version

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

Case
Mendez v. Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-11534
Judge
Alison Nathan
Date
May 12, 2020

Background

According to an affidavit of service filed on January 28, 2020, Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art Inc.'s answer or other response to the complaint was due that day. The court stated that it had not received the defendant's answer as of May 12, 2020.

Orders

The court directed Himelda Mendez, within three weeks, to seek a certificate of default and move for default judgment under the court's individual practices, or to file a status update explaining why a motion for default judgment should not be filed at that time. A default judgment is a judgment requested because a defendant has not appeared or responded. The court warned that failure to take one of those actions could result in dismissal of Mendez's claims with prejudice for failure to prosecute.

The court adjourned the initial pretrial conference from May 22, 2020, to June 26, 2020, at 3:15 p.m. It also required Mendez to serve the order on Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art Inc. and file an affidavit of service on the court's electronic docket within one week of the order's date.

Disposition

Judge Alison J. Nathan issued case-management and default-related directives. The order did not decide the merits of Mendez's claims or enter a default judgment.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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