Mendez v. Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art Inc.
- Alison Nathan
- 1:19-cv-11534
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Mendez v. Sadigh Gallery, Judge Nathan ordered Mendez to seek default judgment or explain why she should not.
Himelda Mendez must meet the stated filing and service deadlines; Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art Inc. is affected by the certificate of default and the adjournment of the initial pretrial conference.
What happened
In Mendez v. Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art Inc., Plaintiff Himelda Mendez had received a certificate of default against Defendant. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The court ordered Mendez, within three weeks, either to file a motion for default judgment or to provide a status update explaining why she should not file one. It also required her to serve the order on Defendant and file proof of service within one week.
Judge Alison J. Nathan adjourned the scheduled initial pretrial conference indefinitely because of the certificate of default. The court warned that failing to comply could lead to dismissal of Mendez’s claims with prejudice for failure to prosecute.
The detailed version
- Mendez v. Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-11534
- Alison Nathan
- June 25, 2020
Background
On June 9, 2020, Plaintiff Himelda Mendez received a certificate of default against Defendant Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art Inc. A certificate of default records a party’s default; it is not itself a judgment on the claims.
Court’s Actions
The court ordered Mendez to do one of two things within three weeks of the order: file a motion for default judgment under the court’s individual practices, or file a status update explaining why a motion for default judgment should not be filed at that time.
The court warned that failure to meet that deadline could result in dismissal of Mendez’s claims with prejudice for failure to prosecute. The order also required Mendez to serve the order on Defendant and file an affidavit of service on the court’s electronic docket within one week. An initial pretrial conference scheduled for June 26, 2020 was adjourned indefinitely in light of the certificate of default.
Disposition and Scope
Judge Alison J. Nathan issued a case-management order addressing the next steps after Defendant’s default. The opinion does not resolve the merits of Mendez’s claims or enter default judgment.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.