Mendez-Lopez v. Back
- Philip Halpern
- 7:20-cv-04444
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Mendez-Lopez v. Back, Judge Halpern stayed the action pending agreed binding arbitration and administratively closed it, allowing reopening after arbitration.
The plaintiff and defendants in the action; scheduled court conferences and appearances were canceled, and the case was paused pending arbitration.
What happened
In Mendez-Lopez v. Back, the plaintiff told the court that the parties had agreed to binding arbitration.
The court paused the case while arbitration proceeds, canceled scheduled conferences and other court appearances, and directed the clerk to administratively close the case. Either party may ask to reopen it by letter motion within 30 days after arbitration concludes.
Judge Philip M. Halpern entered the order on May 28, 2021. The order did not decide the underlying dispute.
The detailed version
- Mendez-Lopez v. Back · No. 7:20-cv-04444
- Philip Halpern
- May 28, 2021
Background
By letter dated May 27, 2021, Plaintiff Wilner Mendez-Lopez notified the court that the parties had agreed to binding arbitration in the matter.
Order
The court ordered that the action be stayed, meaning paused, pending the outcome of arbitration. It canceled all scheduled conferences and other scheduled court appearances. The Clerk of Court was directed to administratively close the case, without prejudice to either party moving by letter motion to reopen the case within 30 days after the arbitration proceedings conclude.
The opinion’s footnote explains that administrative closure does not constitute a final decision and has no jurisdictional significance; it is used for administrative or statistical convenience.
Disposition
Judge Philip M. Halpern stayed the action pending arbitration and directed its administrative closure. The order did not resolve the merits of the parties’ dispute.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.