Feinberg v. Land
- Jesse Furman
- 1:19-cv-03410
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Feinberg v. Land, Judge Furman administratively closed the case after learning Feinberg died and set a deadline for substituting a proper party.
Herbert Feinberg’s estate, successor, or representative; Defendant Sangita Shah; and the other parties to the administratively closed case.
What happened
Feinberg v. Land involves a case in which Defendant Sangita Shah informed the court that Plaintiff Herbert Feinberg had died. Feinberg was proceeding without a lawyer.
The court ordered Shah to mail a death statement and the order to Feinberg’s last known address and file proof of service by September 28, 2020. Under the cited rule, a party or Feinberg’s successor or representative could then ask to substitute a proper party within 90 days after the death statement was served.
Judge Jesse M. Furman administratively closed the case. The court said it would reopen the case if a timely substitution motion was filed and would dismiss the case if none was filed; it also denied Shah’s motion for a conference as moot.
The detailed version
- Feinberg v. Land · No. 1:19-cv-03410
- Jesse Furman
- Sept. 22, 2020
Background
Defendant Sangita Shah informed the court that Plaintiff Herbert Feinberg had died on September 6, 2020. The opinion states that Feinberg was proceeding without counsel. The court had not yet decided Shah’s pending motion to dismiss.
Substitution Procedure
The court ordered Shah, under Rule 25(a)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to mail a Statement of Death and a copy of the order to Feinberg’s last known address by September 28, 2020, and to file proof of service. Rule 25(a)(1) allows a party or the decedent’s successor or representative to file a motion to substitute a proper party within 90 days after service of the Statement of Death. The court stated that the case must be dismissed if no substitution motion is filed within that period.
The court also noted that a successor or representative appearing for Feinberg might, depending on the circumstances, be required to proceed through a lawyer.
Ruling
The court directed the Clerk of Court to administratively close the case. It stated that a timely substitution motion would lead to reopening of the action and continued consideration of Shah’s motion to dismiss. If no timely substitution motion was filed, the case would be deemed dismissed under Rule 25(a)(1). The court denied Shah’s motion for a conference as moot and directed the Clerk to terminate that motion and administratively close the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.