7 West 21 LI LLC v. Mosseri

Background

Clement Mosseri removed a state-court holdover proceeding to federal court. On July 7, 2021, Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered Mosseri to file a declaration meeting the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1446(a). That law requires a person removing a state case to provide a short and plain statement explaining the grounds for removal, along with copies of all process, pleadings, and orders served in the state case.

Chief Judge Swain found that Mosseri’s notice of removal did not meet those requirements. It asserted, without factual support, that the underlying holdover proceeding duplicated another proceeding. She warned that the case would be sent back to state court if Mosseri did not comply by August 7, 2021, or show good cause for failing to do so.

Procedural History

After the case was assigned to Judge Cronan, Mosseri filed a motion to dismiss instead of complying with the July 7 order. He also filed a notice of appeal from that order. The Second Circuit dismissed the appeal on January 31, 2022.

Ruling

Judge Cronan denied Mosseri’s motion to dismiss without prejudice because Mosseri had not complied with the July 7 order and had not established the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction, meaning its legal authority to hear the case. The court directed Mosseri to file the required declaration and state-court documents within 30 days, by March 3, 2022. It stated that the case would be remanded to state court without further notice if he failed to do so.

The court directed the Clerk of Court to close the motion. It also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied Mosseri permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The opinion identifies Mosseri as proceeding without a lawyer.