Soler-Ortiz v. D.P. Group General Contractors/Developers Inc.
- Katherine Failla
- 1:21-cv-02373
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Soler-Ortiz v. D.P. Group General Contractor, Judge McMahon ordered payment or a fee-waiver application before the case could proceed.
William Soler-Ortiz, who must pay the required fees or submit a fee-waiver application within 30 days for the action to proceed.
What happened
William Soler-Ortiz brought this case against D.P. Group General Contractor without a lawyer, but did not pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without paying them upfront.
The court ordered Soler-Ortiz to pay $402 or submit a signed fee-waiver application within 30 days. No summons would issue yet, and failure to comply would cause the action to be dismissed without prejudice.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon issued the order. She also ruled that an appeal from the order could not proceed without prepaying appeal fees because it would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Soler-Ortiz v. D.P. Group General Contractors/Developers Inc. · No. 1:21-cv-02373
- Katherine Failla
- Mar. 18, 2021
Background
William Soler-Ortiz filed this civil action without a lawyer. The opinion states that a plaintiff must either pay $402 in court fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying those fees. Soler-Ortiz submitted the complaint without either payment or an application.
Order
The court directed Soler-Ortiz, within 30 days of the order, to do one of two things: pay the $402 in fees or submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees. The application had to identify docket number 21-CV-2373 (CM). If the court granted the application, Soler-Ortiz could proceed without prepaying the fees.
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Soler-Ortiz and record service on the docket. No summons would issue at that time. If Soler-Ortiz complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice.
Appeal-fee ruling
The court certified that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims against D.P. Group General Contractor.
Disposition
Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon entered an order directing payment of the filing fees or submission of a fee-waiver application. The case was not dismissed by this order, but the opinion stated that failure to comply would result in dismissal without prejudice.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.