Kornea v. Miller
- Katharine Parker
- 1:22-cv-04454
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 17
In Kornea v. Miller, Judge Parker ordered discovery disclosures and mediation updates after a filing problem.
The plaintiffs, including Illia Kornea and Octavian Kecenovici, and Defendant Jeffrey A. Miller were required to exchange initial disclosures, address mediation scheduling, and comply with the court’s case-management deadlines.
What happened
In Kornea v. Miller, Defendant Jeffrey Miller emailed the court about documents he believed had been filed, but the court found that they were never placed on the electronic docket. The court also explained that initial disclosures and other discovery should be sent directly to the other parties, not filed on the docket.
The court directed Jeffrey Miller and the plaintiffs to exchange initial disclosures by November 1, 2022. It also directed the plaintiffs to provide mediation dates and Plaintiff Octavian Kecenovici to provide his mailing address. The parties had to submit a joint status letter by November 4, 2022.
Judge Katharine H. Parker warned that continued failures to meet discovery and other deadlines could lead to sanctions, including dismissal of the case. She also reminded the parties about a November 15 conference and the January 30, 2023 discovery deadline.
The detailed version
- Kornea v. Miller · No. 1:22-cv-04454
- Katharine Parker
- Oct. 28, 2022
Background
On October 27, 2022, Jeffrey Miller emailed Judge Parker's chambers with a letter and exhibits. Miller said he had filed the materials through the court's electronic filing system but that they had not appeared on the docket. The court found that the materials had never been filed on the docket and appeared to have been rejected by the Pro Se Intake Unit for failing to meet filing standards. The court reminded the parties that they must correct rejected filings themselves.
Miller also said he had filed his initial disclosures on September 15, 2022 but had not served them on the plaintiffs because he believed the Pro Se Intake Unit would do so. The court stated that initial disclosures and other discovery should not be filed on the docket; they should be provided directly to the other parties. The court further stated that electronic filings are not automatically served on parties by the Pro Se Intake Unit.
Court’s directives
The court directed Miller to send his initial disclosures directly to the plaintiffs by Tuesday, November 1, 2022, warning that failure to do so could result in sanctions. The plaintiffs were also directed to provide Miller with their initial disclosures by that date.
The plaintiffs were directed to provide Miller with their available mediation dates by November 1. Plaintiff Octavian Kecenovici was directed to provide his mailing address to the court by the same date. The parties were ordered to file a joint letter on the electronic docket by Friday, November 4, stating whether they had received each other's initial disclosures, whether they had scheduled mediation, and the status of discovery.
The court reminded the parties that a telephone conference was scheduled for November 15, 2022, and that all discovery had to be completed by Monday, January 30, 2023. The discovery deadline would not be paused because of pending motions or mediation. The court also advised the plaintiffs that continued failures to comply with discovery and other deadlines could result in terminating sanctions, meaning dismissal of the case. Finally, the Clerk was asked to mail the order to the parties, and Plaintiff Illia Kornea was directed to mail a copy to Kecenovici because he had not provided an address.
Ruling and effect
Judge Katharine H. Parker issued case-management and discovery directives. The order did not decide the underlying claims or defenses. It required both sides to complete specified discovery and mediation-related tasks and warned of possible sanctions for continued noncompliance.
Read the full 17-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.