Lord v. City of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:20-cv-03890
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Lord v. City of New York, Judge Aaron ordered U.S. Marshals service for Donald A. Lord’s defendants after he was allowed to proceed without fees.
Donald A. Lord, the City of New York and the other named defendants, the Clerk of Court, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
What happened
In Lord v. City of New York, Donald A. Lord was allowed to proceed without paying court fees and without a lawyer. The order concerns how the defendants will receive the lawsuit papers.
The court directed the Clerk of Court to prepare service forms and summonses for each defendant and send the necessary papers to the U.S. Marshals Service. Lord must tell the court in writing if his address changes, and the court said the case may be dismissed if he does not.
Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron entered this order on June 16, 2020. The order also provided filing information for people without lawyers and identified a legal clinic, but it did not decide the merits of Lord’s claims.
The detailed version
- Lord v. City of New York · No. 1:20-cv-03890
- Laura Swain
- June 16, 2020
Background
Donald A. Lord is the plaintiff, and the caption names the City of New York and other defendants. The opinion states that Lord had been granted permission to proceed without paying court fees. It also refers to him as a person proceeding without a lawyer.
Order
Because Lord was allowed to proceed without fees, the court stated that he could rely on the court and the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the defendants. Service is the formal delivery of the lawsuit papers to the defendants. The Clerk of Court was instructed to complete a U.S. Marshals Service Process Receipt and Return form for each defendant, issue summonses, and provide the Marshals Service with the paperwork needed to complete service.
Lord was required to notify the court in writing if his address changes. The court stated that it may dismiss the action if he fails to provide that notice. The order also encouraged people proceeding without lawyers to submit filings by email during the health crisis and provided information about a legal clinic operated by the New York Legal Assistance Group. The order clarified that the clinic is a private organization and is not part of the court.
Disposition
Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron entered an order of service. The order addressed service and related filing matters; it did not resolve the underlying claims or rule on their merits.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.