Williams v. Kingdom Animalia, LLC
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:20-cv-04157
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Williams v. Kingdom Animalia, Judge Caproni dismissed the settled case with prejudice, without costs, and closed it.
Pamela Williams, Kingdom Animalia, LLC, and the parties to the settlement were affected. The case was dismissed with prejudice without costs or attorneys’ fees, with a 30-day opportunity to seek reopening or to request that the court retain authority to enforce the settlement agreement.
What happened
Williams v. Kingdom Animalia, LLC involved Pamela Williams’s case against Kingdom Animalia, LLC, brought on behalf of herself and others similarly situated. The parties told the court they had reached an agreement in principle resolving all issues.
The court canceled all scheduled conferences and deadlines, dismissed the case with prejudice, ordered that neither party pay costs or attorneys’ fees, and directed the clerk to close the case. The parties could ask to reopen it within 30 days by showing good cause.
Judge Valerie Caproni also said the parties could ask the court to retain authority to enforce their settlement agreement, but they had to submit the agreement and a specific request within the same 30-day period.
The detailed version
- Williams v. Kingdom Animalia, LLC · No. 1:20-cv-04157
- Valerie Caproni
- Nov. 5, 2020
Background
Pamela Williams brought this case against Kingdom Animalia, LLC on behalf of herself and others similarly situated. The opinion states that, on November 2, 2020, the parties notified the court that they had reached an agreement in principle resolving all issues. The opinion does not describe the agreement’s terms.
Court’s Order
The court canceled all previously scheduled conferences and other deadlines. It dismissed the case with prejudice and without costs, including attorneys’ fees, to either party. “With prejudice” means the case was dismissed in a way that bars refiling the same case. The clerk was directed to terminate all open motions and close the case.
The order allowed the parties to apply to reopen the case within 30 days. Any application had to show good cause for keeping the case open despite the settlement, and an application filed after 30 days or without a showing of good cause could be denied on that basis alone.
The order also stated that, if the parties wanted the court to retain jurisdiction—that is, continuing authority—to enforce their settlement agreement, they had to submit the agreement and request an order expressly retaining jurisdiction within the same 30-day period.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.