Bell v. de Blasio
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-02792
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Bell v. The City of New York, Judge Broderick extended Bell’s deadline to serve Praxis by 180 days.
The order directly affected Anthony G. Bell and Praxis Housing Initiatives, Inc. by extending the deadline for service on Praxis. It also directed the U.S. Marshals Service to attempt service.
What happened
In Bell v. The City of New York, Anthony G. Bell, who was representing himself and had permission to proceed without paying filing fees, asked the court why Praxis Housing Initiatives, Inc. had not been served.
The court explained that the U.S. Marshals Service was responsible for serving the defendants because Bell had permission to proceed without paying filing fees. The summonses were issued on February 16, 2022, and the original service deadline was May 17, 2022.
The court treated Bell’s letter as a request for more time and extended the service deadline for Praxis by 180 days, to November 14, 2022. Judge Vernon S. Broderick warned that the claims against Praxis could be dismissed if service was not completed and Bell did not request another extension before that date.
The detailed version
- Bell v. de Blasio · No. 1:21-cv-02792
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 17, 2022
Background
Anthony G. Bell, who was proceeding without a lawyer, asked the court to help determine why Defendant Praxis Housing Initiatives, Inc. had not been served. Bell had been granted permission to proceed without paying filing fees. In such cases, the court and the U.S. Marshals Service can be responsible for serving process, meaning delivering the summons and complaint to the defendants.
The court stated that the summonses were issued on February 16, 2022. Because Bell was proceeding without paying filing fees, the court had previously extended the service period to 90 days after the summonses were issued. That made May 17, 2022, the service deadline. The court had also previously told Bell to request an extension if service was not completed on time.
Ruling
The court treated Bell’s letter as a request for an extension of time to serve Praxis. Because the U.S. Marshals Service had not yet completed service, the court extended the service deadline for Praxis by an additional 180 days, until November 14, 2022.
Judge Vernon S. Broderick warned that, if the Marshals Service did not serve Praxis by November 14, 2022, and Bell did not request another extension before that date, the court might dismiss Bell’s claims against Praxis under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m). The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Bell a copy of the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.