Zonis v. Grubman
- Jesse Furman
- 1:20-cv-07181
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Zonis v. Grubman, Judge Furman directed the Marshals Service to attempt personal service on Lizzie Grubman after an earlier attempt failed.
Peter Zonis, Lizzie Grubman, the Clerk of Court, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
What happened
In Zonis v. Grubman, Peter Zonis, representing himself, sued Lizzie Grubman and others, claiming copyright infringement and violations of state law. The opinion addresses service of the lawsuit, not whether those claims are valid.
Zonis had permission to proceed without paying court fees, so the court said he could rely on the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the defendants. An earlier attempt to serve Grubman at an address Zonis provided was unsuccessful.
Judge Jesse M. Furman directed the Marshals Service to try personal service on Grubman at her listed business addresses. The Clerk of Court was ordered to prepare the required forms, summons, and other documents and deliver them to the Marshals Service.
The detailed version
- Zonis v. Grubman · No. 1:20-cv-07181
- Jesse Furman
- May 13, 2021
Background
Peter Zonis, appearing without a lawyer, brought claims against Lizzie Grubman and others under the Copyright Act and state law. The court had previously allowed Zonis to proceed without prepaying court fees. That status meant that the court and the U.S. Marshals Service were responsible for helping carry out service of the summons and complaint.
The Marshals Service previously attempted to serve Grubman on November 13, 2020, at an address supplied by Zonis. The service attempt was returned unexecuted. The court separately extended Zonis's deadline to serve Grubman to July 12, 2021, because of the earlier unsuccessful attempts.
Ruling
Judge Jesse M. Furman directed the Marshals Service to attempt personal service on Grubman at the listed business addresses. The court specified that service was to be made personally, rather than by mail. It instructed the Clerk of Court to complete the U.S. Marshals Service process forms, issue a summons, and provide the Marshals Service with the documents needed to attempt service. The order did not decide the merits of Zonis's copyright or state-law claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.