Legal Recovery Associates LLC v. Brenes
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-01772
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Legal Recovery Associates v. Brenes: Judge Swain dismissed this duplicate case without prejudice because the same claims were pending in another removed action.
Legal Recovery Associates LLC, Brenes Law Group, P.C., and Troy A. Brenes; the case was dismissed without prejudice, while the duplicative removed action remained pending.
What happened
In Legal Recovery Associates LLC v. Brenes Law Group, P.C. and Troy A. Brenes, Troy A. Brenes removed a New York state-court case while representing himself and Brenes Law Group, P.C. Neither defendant paid the removal fees or asked to proceed without paying them.
The court noted that Brenes had removed the same state-court case again the next day, paid the required fees, and created a separate case that was pending before another judge. Because the two cases raised the same claims, the court found no useful purpose in continuing this duplicate case.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed this case without prejudice to the pending related action. She also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fees.
The detailed version
- Legal Recovery Associates LLC v. Brenes · No. 1:22-cv-01772
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 9, 2022
Background
Legal Recovery Associates LLC brought this action against Brenes Law Group, P.C. and Troy A. Brenes. On March 2, 2022, Brenes removed the action from the New York Supreme Court, New York County. He appeared without a lawyer for himself and also represented Brenes Law Group, P.C. Neither defendant paid the required removal fees or submitted a request to proceed without paying them.
Reason for dismissal
The court explained that, one day after the first removal, Brenes filed another notice of removal for the same state-court action. He represented both defendants in that second case and paid the removal fees. The second case was pending before Judge Alison J. Nathan under docket number 1:22-CV-1778 (AJN). Because the present case raised the same claims as that pending case, the court determined that no useful purpose would be served by litigating this duplicative action.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the present action without prejudice to the pending action, identified in the order as Legal Recovery Associates LLC v. Brenes Law Group, P.C., No. 1:22-CV-1778 (AJN). The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
Other order
The court directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to both defendants and to counsel for Legal Recovery Associates LLC, and to record service on the docket.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.