Dennis v. K&L Gates LLP
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-09393
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Dennis v. K&L Gates LLP, Judge McMahon ordered Dennis to pay fees or apply to proceed without them.
The order directly affects plaintiff Willie E. Dennis, who must either pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment; defendant K&L Gates LLP is affected because the case will proceed only if Dennis complies.
What happened
Dennis v. K&L Gates LLP concerns a lawsuit filed by Willie E. Dennis, who was representing himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees or filing an application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court gave Dennis 30 days to pay $400 or submit a signed application explaining that he cannot afford the fees. The court did not issue a summons at that time.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered that the case would be processed if Dennis complied. If he did not comply within the deadline, the action would be dismissed without prejudice. The judge also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Dennis v. K&L Gates LLP · No. 1:20-cv-09393
- Colleen McMahon
- Nov. 20, 2020
Background
Willie E. Dennis brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint but did not pay the required filing and administrative fees and did not submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Court’s order
The court explained that a plaintiff must either pay $400—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees. The court ordered Dennis to do one of those things within 30 days of the order. If he submitted the application, it was to identify docket number 20-CV-9393 (CM). If the court granted the application, Dennis could proceed without prepaying the fees.
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Dennis and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. If Dennis complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the permitted time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice, meaning the order did not bar a later filing.
Appeal
Judge Colleen McMahon certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.