Adewale v. Akintoye
- John Cronan
- 1:21-cv-09485
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Adewale v. Akintoye, Judge Cronan granted refiling, required more information before ruling on alternative service, and adjourned the default-judgment hearing.
Tejuosho Olusina Adewale and the named defendants. The plaintiff could re-file the default-judgment memorandum by June 3, 2022, but the request for alternative service remained unresolved pending additional information; the default-judgment hearing was moved to August 4, 2022.
What happened
In Adewale v. Akintoye, Tejuosho Olusina Adewale’s counsel asked for permission to use alternative methods to serve the defendants with an April 1, 2022 order and default-judgment papers. Counsel said attempts at personal service and certified mail had failed, and that the defendants knew about the case.
The court granted the plaintiff’s request to re-file the memorandum supporting the default-judgment motion and accompanying documents by June 3, 2022. The court did not yet approve or deny alternative service. Instead, it ordered the plaintiff to provide more information about the addresses used and whether two defendants had been properly served with the summons and complaint.
Judge John Cronan also adjourned the default-judgment hearing from June 17, 2022, to August 4, 2022. The order therefore resolved the re-filing request but left the alternative-service request pending additional information.
The detailed version
- Adewale v. Akintoye · No. 1:21-cv-09485
- John Cronan
- June 3, 2022
Background
Tejuosho Olusina Adewale’s counsel submitted a letter requesting permission to use alternative service methods for serving the defendants with the Court’s April 1, 2022 order and the plaintiff’s default-judgment papers. Counsel also requested a one-day extension to re-file the memorandum supporting the default-judgment motion because the memorandum previously filed was captioned for a related case rather than this action.
Counsel represented that attempts to serve the defendants at their last known physical addresses had been unsuccessful and that certified mailings had been returned as undeliverable. Counsel requested permission to use certified mail at the listed addresses and to publish the April 1 order on the court’s electronic docket. The letter also stated that the defendants had not appeared in this action and were unrepresented.
Court’s analysis and orders
The order granted the plaintiff’s request to re-file the memorandum of law and accompanying documents supporting the motion for default judgment by June 3, 2022.
The court did not decide the request for alternative service. It ordered the plaintiff to submit additional information by June 8, 2022, including: (1) how the plaintiff initially identified the addresses for the defendants Olubunmi Adeola Akintoye, Bumak African Stores, and Oluranti Damilola Akintoye; and (2) whether the plaintiff had a basis to believe the defendants still lived or conducted business at those addresses. The court also directed the plaintiff to address whether Olubunmi Adeola Akintoye and Bumak African Stores had been properly served with the summons and complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4, because the complaint identified one address while the service records appeared to show service at another address.
The court adjourned the default-judgment hearing from June 17, 2022, at 1:00 p.m., to August 4, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. Judge John Cronan therefore granted the re-filing request, required additional information before ruling on alternative service, and adjourned the hearing.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.