Smith v. Gutierres
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:21-cv-06086
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Jason M. Smith v. Jimmy Gutierres, et al., Judge Wang treated Smith’s mailing as a sufficient response and scheduled a status conference.
Jason M. Smith, the defendants, and defense counsel were affected by the disclosure instructions, service requirements, and scheduled status conference.
What happened
In Jason M. Smith v. Jimmy Gutierres, et al., the court had ordered pro se Plaintiff Jason M. Smith to provide initial disclosures and explain why the case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute.
The court received Smith’s mailed discovery materials and treated them as both his initial disclosures and a sufficient response to the order requiring an explanation. It directed all parties to attend an in-person status conference on January 5, 2023.
Judge Ona T. Wang also directed defense counsel to serve the order on Smith, file proof of service, and contact him about the conference. The order provided guidance about discovery and filing documents but did not dismiss the case.
The detailed version
- Smith v. Gutierres · No. 1:21-cv-06086
- Ronnie Abrams
- Dec. 2, 2022
Background
The court had previously ordered pro se Plaintiff Jason M. Smith to provide Defendants with his initial disclosures and file a docket letter confirming that he had done so. The court later issued an order requiring Smith to explain why the action should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute, meaning failure to move the case forward.
Court’s Treatment of Smith’s Mailing
The court received a hard-copy mailing of discovery materials from Smith through the United States Postal Service. It construed the mailing as both a response to the order requiring initial disclosures and a sufficient response to the order to show cause. The opinion states that courts must give special consideration to people who represent themselves.
Order
The court ordered an in-person status conference for January 5, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 20D at 500 Pearl Street in New York. It directed all parties, including Smith, to attend.
The court recommended that Smith review the Southern District of New York’s guides concerning discovery and filing documents. It also advised that future documents should be submitted to the court’s Pro Se Unit rather than to the chambers of the judges in the case.
Judge Ona T. Wang directed defense counsel to serve the order on Smith using his updated docket address, file proof of service, and call and email him about the upcoming conference. The order did not dismiss the action.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.