Purgess v. Parauda
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:20-cv-02984
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Purgess v. Parauda, Judge Abrams ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the defendants because pandemic-related obstacles prevented private service.
Jan R. Purgess, defendants Martina Parauda and Robert Willkie, the Clerk of Court, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
What happened
In Purgess v. Parauda, Jan R. Purgess, who was representing himself, told the court that his process servers could not serve Martina Parauda and Robert Willkie because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The court ordered service through the U.S. Marshals Service. It directed the Clerk of Court to prepare service forms, issue amended summonses, and provide the Marshals Service with the documents needed to serve the defendants and the United States.
Judge Ronnie Abrams also stated that Purgess should request more time if service was not completed within 90 days after the amended summonses were issued. The order required him to notify the court if his address changed and did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Purgess v. Parauda · No. 1:20-cv-02984
- Ronnie Abrams
- June 23, 2020
Background
Jan R. Purgess filed the action after paying the filing fee and was proceeding without a lawyer. In a June 19, 2020 letter, he informed the court that his private process servers had been unable to serve Martina Parauda and Robert Willkie because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Court’s Order
Relying on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(c)(3), which allows a court to order service by a United States marshal or another person appointed by the court, the court ordered that Parauda and Willkie be served through the U.S. Marshals Service.
The Clerk of Court was directed to complete a U.S. Marshals Service Process Receipt and Return form for each defendant, mark the forms for service on the United States, issue amended summonses, and provide the Marshals Service with this order and the other documents needed to complete service on the United States and the defendants.
Additional Requirements
The order stated that if service was not completed within 90 days after the amended summonses were issued, Purgess should request an extension of time. It also required Purgess to notify the court in writing if his address changed and stated that the court could dismiss the action if he failed to do so.
Disposition
Judge Ronnie Abrams entered a service-related order directing the Clerk of Court and the U.S. Marshals Service to take the specified steps. The opinion did not decide the merits of Purgess’s claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.