Zaerpour v. UBS Group AG
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-07232
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Zaerpour v. UBS Group AG, Judge Swain denied sealing and required payment or an IFP application within 30 days.
Soheil Zaerpour, who was required to pay the $402 filing and administrative fees or submit a signed fee-waiver application within 30 days; the order also affected his request to seal those applications and his request for a volunteer lawyer.
What happened
In Zaerpour v. UBS Group AG, Soheil Zaerpour, who was representing himself, asked to seal applications to proceed without paying court fees and to obtain a volunteer lawyer.
The court denied the request to seal those applications. It directed Zaerpour to pay $402 or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days; no summons would issue at that time.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also stated that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal. The order said the action would be dismissed if Zaerpour did not comply on time.
The detailed version
- Zaerpour v. UBS Group AG · No. 1:22-cv-07232
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 19, 2022
Background
Soheil Zaerpour proceeded without a lawyer. He asked to file under seal two applications: one seeking permission to proceed without paying court fees in advance, and another seeking appointment of a volunteer lawyer. The opinion does not address the merits of the claims against UBS Group AG or the other defendants.
Sealing request
The court explained that court records are generally presumed to be available to the public and that the person seeking secrecy must provide a basis for sealing. Because Zaerpour did not state any facts supporting secrecy, the court denied his motion to file the fee-waiver application and the volunteer-counsel application under seal.
Fees and fee-waiver application
The court stated that proceeding with the civil action required either payment of $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submission of a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court directed Zaerpour, within 30 days of the order, to take one of those two actions. If he submitted the application and the court granted it, he could proceed without paying the fees in advance. No summons would issue at that time. The order stated that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed period.
Appeal
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3), the court certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied the motion to file the applications under seal and directed Zaerpour to pay the filing fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.