Joyner v. Alston & Bird LLP
- Analisa Torres
- 1:21-cv-08549
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Joyner v. Alston & Bird, Judge Cave granted Joyner’s waiver of oral argument and granted in part and denied in part her records request.
Dawn M. Joyner, who represented herself, and the defendants Alston & Bird LLP, Richard Hays, Cathy Benton, and Michael Stephens. The order canceled the scheduled oral argument and required the Clerk to mail Joyner a certified copy of the docket.
What happened
In Dawn M. Joyner v. Alston & Bird LLP, the court considered Joyner’s request to waive scheduled oral argument on the defendants’ pending motion to dismiss and her request for records concerning bonds and the case docket.
Joyner argued that oral argument was futile, would delay a decision, and would create an unfair playing field. She also requested records including a certified docket, bond documents, bond amounts, expiration dates, interest information, and information about entities connected to any bonds. The court found that the docket did not show that any bond had been ordered or referenced in the case.
Judge Sarah L. Cave granted the motion to waive oral argument and canceled the hearing. She granted in part and denied in part the records request: the Clerk was ordered to mail Joyner a certified copy of the docket, but the rest of the request was denied. The defendants’ motion to dismiss was deemed fully submitted, with a report and recommendation to follow.
The detailed version
- Joyner v. Alston & Bird LLP · No. 1:21-cv-08549
- Analisa Torres
- Apr. 8, 2022
Motions Before the Court
The court considered two requests by pro se Plaintiff Dawn M. Joyner: a motion to waive oral argument scheduled for May 11, 2022, on the defendants’ pending motion to dismiss, and a request for disclosure of bond-related documents and other records.
Waiver of Oral Argument
The court had scheduled in-person oral argument on the defendants’ motion to dismiss because it believed hearing from both sides could be useful. Joyner argued that oral argument would be futile, delay a decision, and create an unfair playing field. The court rejected her assertion that the hearing would be unfair because both sides would have made presentations, but it nevertheless accepted her waiver and would not require her to appear.
The court therefore granted Joyner’s motion, canceled the oral argument, and deemed the motion to dismiss fully submitted. The court stated that it would issue a report and recommendation in due course.
Records Request
Joyner sought a full disclosure of records held by the Southern District of New York under her name or identifier. Her requested materials included a certified copy of the docket, commercial bond certifications, Miller Act reinsurance bonds, bond identification numbers, secured amounts, expiration dates, interest information, information about entities that secured or held the bonds, and other bond-related records not exempt under the cited federal disclosure statute.
The court reviewed the docket and found no indication that any bond had been ordered or referenced in the action. It concluded that a certified copy of the docket was appropriate but denied the remaining bond-related requests.
Disposition
Judge Sarah L. Cave granted the motion to waive oral argument. She granted in part and denied in part the records request: a certified copy of the docket was to be mailed to Joyner, while the remainder of the request was denied. The Clerk was directed to close the two docket entries concerning these requests and mail Joyner a copy of the order and the certified docket.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.