Court, Explained
U.S. Federal District Courts
←Back to docket
S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled June 22, 2020

Gross v. The City of New York

Judge
Robert Lehrburger
Docket
1:20-cv-04340
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Civil ProcedurePro Se
In one sentence

In Gross v. The City of New York, Judge McMahon ordered pro se plaintiff Abraham Gross to pay fees or apply to proceed without prepayment.

Who this affects

Abraham Gross, who was required to pay the fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days; failure to comply would result in dismissal of the action.

What happened

Gross v. The City of New York was filed by Abraham Gross, who represented himself, against the City of New York and other defendants.

The court said Gross had to pay $400 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application to proceed without paying those fees in advance. He had 30 days from the order to do so.

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the Clerk to mail the order to Gross and said no summons would issue yet. She stated that the case would be processed if Gross complied and would be dismissed if he did not. She also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that any appeal would not be taken in good faith.

The detailed version

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

Case
Gross v. The City of New York · No. 1:20-cv-04340
Judge
Robert Lehrburger
Date
June 22, 2020

Background

Abraham Gross brought this civil action without a lawyer. The opinion states that he submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepayment of fees.

Payment or fee-waiver requirement

The court explained that a civil plaintiff must either pay $400—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court gave Gross 30 days from the date of the order to pay the fees or submit the application. If the court granted the application, Gross could proceed without prepaying fees.

Order and effect

Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk to mail the order to Gross and record service on the docket. The court directed that no summons issue at that time. It stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Gross complied, but that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed period. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

Classification basis

This is a procedural order concerning payment of filing fees or an application to proceed without prepayment of fees. It did not decide the merits of Gross’s claims.

The authoritative version

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

Open opinion PDF →
Summary written with AI assistance. See how summaries are made. Spot something wrong? Tell us.