Chan v. 520 Asian Restaurant Corp.
- John Cronan
- 1:19-cv-09521
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Chan v. 520 Asian Restaurant Corp., Judge Cronan required proof of service before the clerk could enter judgment under Rule 68.
The plaintiffs and defendants must file proof of service within one week; the clerk may not enter the judgment until the Rule 68 filing requirements are satisfied.
What happened
In Chan v. 520 Asian Restaurant Corp., the plaintiffs told the court they had accepted the defendants’ offer of judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 and submitted a proposed judgment.
The court explained that the parties had not filed proof that the offer and acceptance were served, as Rule 68 requires before the clerk can enter judgment. Because of that omission, the court could not direct the clerk to enter judgment.
Judge John P. Cronan ordered the parties to file proof of service within one week after the order was filed.
The detailed version
- Chan v. 520 Asian Restaurant Corp. · No. 1:19-cv-09521
- John Cronan
- Nov. 13, 2020
Background
On November 5, 2020, Chiw Yin Chan and Jiesheng Lin informed the court that they had accepted 520 Asian Restaurant Corp. and Teo Su Jin’s offer of judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68. The plaintiffs attached the offer and filed a proposed judgment for the court to enter. The opinion does not state the underlying claims or the terms of the offer.
Rule 68 Requirement
Rule 68 provides that, after a plaintiff accepts an offer of judgment, either party may file the offer, the notice of acceptance, and proof of service. The clerk must then enter judgment. The court cited Second Circuit authority stating that proof of service must be filed before the clerk can enter the judgment.
Ruling
The parties had not filed proof of service. The court therefore held that they had not complied with Rule 68(a) and that the court could not direct the clerk to enter judgment. The court ordered the parties to file proof of service within one week after the order was filed.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.