Abagnale v. Kornstein
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:22-cv-00611
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Abagnale v. Kornstein, Judge Swain ordered Jason Frank Abagnale to pay fees or request permission to proceed without paying them within 30 days.
Jason Frank Abagnale must either pay $402 or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days. The case will be dismissed if he does not comply, and no summons will issue at this time.
What happened
In Abagnale v. Kornstein, Jason Frank Abagnale filed the action without paying the required $402 in fees or submitting an application to proceed without paying them. The opinion identifies him as representing himself.
The court gave Abagnale 30 days to pay the fees or submit a signed application for permission to proceed without prepayment. No summons would issue at that time, and the action would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Abagnale.
The detailed version
- Abagnale v. Kornstein · No. 7:22-cv-00611
- Kenneth Karas
- Jan. 28, 2022
Background
Jason Frank Abagnale sued Michael A. Kornstein, Cooper Erving & Savage LLP, and Citizens Bank, N.A. He filed the complaint representing himself. The complaint was submitted without the required filing fees or an application to proceed without prepaying those fees.
Payment or fee-waiver requirement
The court stated that starting a civil action required payment of $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. Instead of paying, Abagnale could request permission to proceed without prepayment by submitting a signed application. The court gave him 30 days from the order's date to either pay the $402 or submit the application, labeled with docket number 22-CV-0611 (LTS).
If the court granted the application, Abagnale would be allowed to proceed without prepaying the fees. The court stated that no summons would issue at that time. If Abagnale did not comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and disposition
The court 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. The order did not dismiss the action immediately; it conditioned further processing on Abagnale's compliance with the payment-or-application requirement. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail a copy of the order to Abagnale and record service on the docket.
Order
The court ordered Abagnale to pay the required fees or submit the fee-waiver application within 30 days. It also denied fee-waiver status for an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.