Kiss v. Kenny
- Cathy Seibel
- 7:22-cv-10663
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Kiss v. Kenny, Judge Seibel ordered pro se plaintiff Daniel Kiss to provide service addresses and denied fee-free status for any appeal.
Daniel Kiss, Janet Kenny, and Debbie Rubin; the order also directs the court and U.S. Marshals Service regarding service.
What happened
In Kiss v. Kenny, Daniel Kiss, representing himself, brought a state-law claim for conversion against Janet Kenny and Debbie Rubin. The opinion says he was using the court’s diversity jurisdiction and had already received permission to proceed without paying court fees in advance.
Because Kiss did not provide residential addresses for either defendant, the court directed him to send the addresses in a letter by February 17, 2023. After receiving them, the court said it would issue summonses and have the U.S. Marshals Service serve the defendants. The order did not decide whether the conversion claim was valid.
Judge Cathy Seibel also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. Kiss was also told to notify the court if his address changes.
The detailed version
- Kiss v. Kenny · No. 7:22-cv-10663
- Cathy Seibel
- Jan. 20, 2023
Background
Daniel Kiss, who was proceeding without a lawyer, brought a state-law conversion claim against Janet Kenny and Debbie Rubin under the court’s diversity-of-citizenship jurisdiction. The court had previously granted Kiss permission to proceed without prepaying filing fees.
Service of the Defendants
A person allowed to proceed without prepaying fees may rely on the court and the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the defendants. Kiss had not provided addresses where Kenny or Rubin could be served. The court therefore directed Kiss to send a letter providing those addresses by February 17, 2023. After receiving the information, the court would direct the issuance of summonses and service by the Marshals Service.
The court explained that the usual 90-day service period would run from the date the summonses were issued because Kiss could not serve the summonses and complaint before the court reviewed the complaint and ordered the summonses issued.
Other Directions and Ruling
Kiss was required to notify the court in writing if his address changed, and the court stated that it could dismiss the action if he failed to do so.
The court certified that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The order addressed service and appeal-fee status; it did not resolve the merits of Kiss’s conversion claim.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.