Infinity Transportation MSN 6651, LLC v. Synergy Aerospace Corp.
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:19-cv-00209-RA-SN
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Infinity Transportation MSN 6651, LLC v. Synergy Aerospace Corp., Judge Abrams extended deadlines and ordered renewed service before considering default judgment.
Synergy Aerospace Corp. was given additional time to respond about its lawyer’s withdrawal and obtain new counsel; Infinity Transportation MSN 6651, LLC was required to serve the relevant orders and certificate of default again before the court would consider its default-judgment motion.
What happened
Infinity Transportation MSN 6651, LLC v. Synergy Aerospace Corp. concerns the withdrawal of the defendant’s lawyer and the plaintiff’s request for default judgment.
The defendant did not tell the court whether it opposed its lawyer’s withdrawal and had not obtained new counsel. Because it was unclear whether the defendant had properly received earlier court orders, the court extended the deadlines and required the plaintiff to serve several documents again.
Judge Ronnie Abrams did not decide the default-judgment motion in this order. She set September 16, 2020, for the defendant to respond about the withdrawal, September 23, 2020, to obtain new counsel if it consented, and directed the plaintiff to serve the documents by September 9, 2020.
The detailed version
- Infinity Transportation MSN 6651, LLC v. Synergy Aerospace Corp. · No. 1:19-cv-00209-RA-SN
- Ronnie Abrams
- Aug. 26, 2020
Background
Orloff, Lowenbach, Stifelman & Siegel, P.A. moved to withdraw as counsel for Synergy Aerospace Corp. The court had previously directed the firm to serve its motion and related papers on Synergy and had ordered Synergy to state whether it opposed the withdrawal. The court also explained that a corporation cannot appear in a civil case without a lawyer.
The firm filed an affidavit stating that it served the papers by emailing Mr. Germán Efromovich. The court stated that this method did not appear to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Synergy did not file the required letter and had not obtained new counsel. Infinity Transportation then moved for entry of default judgment, and the Clerk issued a certificate of default.
Court’s Action
The court stated that it remained unclear whether Synergy had properly received the earlier June 3 and July 16 orders. It therefore extended Synergy’s deadline to file the letter about whether it opposed its counsel’s withdrawal to September 16, 2020. If Synergy consented to the withdrawal, it was required to appear through new counsel by September 23, 2020.
The court directed Infinity Transportation to serve Synergy with the August 26 order, the two earlier orders, and the Clerk’s certificate of default by September 9, 2020, using methods described in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Infinity Transportation was required to file proof of service. The court stated that if Synergy did not appear through new counsel, it would consider the motion for default judgment and judgment might be entered for Infinity Transportation. This order did not itself grant or deny the motion for default judgment.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.