Onatolu v. Universal Life Product
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-02930
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
Judge Swain dismissed Onatolu v. Universal Life Product without prejudice because Onatolu filed without first seeking required permission.
Adekunle A. Onatolu's case was dismissed without prejudice because he did not obtain the permission required by an earlier court order before filing.
What happened
In Onatolu v. Universal Life Product, Adekunle A. Onatolu filed a new case without a lawyer and asked to proceed without paying filing fees. A 2015 court order had barred him from filing new cases without paying fees unless he first obtained permission.
Onatolu had not asked for that permission before filing this case. The court therefore did not address the underlying dispute or the additional documents he submitted.
Judge Swain dismissed the case without prejudice for violating the earlier filing order. She also denied fee-free status for any appeal after finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Onatolu v. Universal Life Product · No. 1:21-cv-02930
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 19, 2021
Background
Adekunle A. Onatolu filed this case without a lawyer and requested permission to proceed without paying filing fees. The opinion states that, on July 9, 2015, the court barred Onatolu from filing any new action without prepaying fees unless he first obtained the court's permission to file.
Reason for Dismissal
Onatolu filed this action but had not sought the required permission. The court dismissed the action because he failed to comply with the July 9, 2015 order. Because the dismissal was based on that filing restriction, the court did not decide the underlying dispute. The opinion also says that the court did not need to address the notice of motion, declaration, notice of appeal, and request to proceed without fees on appeal that Onatolu attached to the complaint.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1651. The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.