United States v. Barrett
- Vyskocil
- 1:21-cv-06839
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In United States v. Barrett, Judge Vyskocil extended the deadline for the United States to seek default judgment to April 4, 2022.
The order affects the United States, which received a deadline to file any motion for default judgment, and Eversley E. Barrett, doing business as Eversley Tax, whose failure to respond could lead to a default judgment or possible dismissal of the action.
What happened
In United States v. Barrett, the United States sued Eversley E. Barrett, doing business as Eversley Tax. Barrett was served but did not respond to the complaint by the stated deadline or take other action in the case.
The United States told the court that settlement discussions were ongoing and asked for more time to seek a default judgment. A default judgment is a judgment entered when a defendant does not respond or otherwise participate.
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil ordered that any request for default judgment be filed by April 4, 2022. She warned that failing to meet that deadline could lead to dismissal for failure to prosecute and said another extension generally would not be granted.
The detailed version
- United States v. Barrett · No. 1:21-cv-06839
- Vyskocil
- Mar. 29, 2022
Background
The United States filed its complaint on August 13,
- An affidavit stating that the summons and complaint had been served was filed on December 16,
- The summons stated that Eversley E. Barrett, doing business as Eversley Tax, had to respond by January 4,
- No response was filed, and Barrett took no other action in the case.
On February 7, 2022, the court ordered the United States to seek entry of a default judgment by March 7, 2022. A default judgment is a judgment entered against a party that has failed to respond or participate. The United States later filed letters reporting the status of settlement negotiations and requesting extensions. It then reported that defense counsel had not responded to the United States' final settlement proposal and requested a final extension to April 4, 2022.
Ruling
The court ordered that any motion for entry of a default judgment be filed by April 4, 2022. It directed the United States to follow the procedures in the court's individual rules for civil cases. The court warned that failure to file the motion by that date may result in dismissal of the action for failure to prosecute under Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The court also stated that, absent extraordinary circumstances, it would not grant another extension. The Clerk of Court was requested to terminate docket entries 12, 13, 14, and 15. The order did not decide the underlying claims or enter a default judgment.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.