Sanon v. Kidz Discovery Inc.
- Jesse Furman
- 1:22-cv-10583
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 9
Sanon v. Kidz Discovery Inc.: Judge Furman rescheduled a telephone conference and ordered case-management submissions from the parties.
Sandra Sanon, Kidz Discovery Inc., the other defendants, and any party without a lawyer must follow the conference, submission, and filing directions.
What happened
In Sandra Sanon v. Kidz Discovery Inc., et al., the court issued a case-management order without deciding the lawsuit’s underlying claims or defenses. The opinion does not describe the nature of those claims.
The court changed the April 4, 2023 conference time to 9:30 a.m. and directed the parties to join by telephone. Before the conference, the parties must discuss settlement and other case-management subjects, and each must submit a letter by March 30, 2023 addressing the case, jurisdiction and venue, deadlines, motions, discovery, settlement discussions, alternative dispute resolution, and other issues that could help move the case forward.
Judge Jesse M. Furman also provided filing instructions for any party without a lawyer, information about a local legal clinic, and procedures for requesting extensions or postponements. The clerk was directed to mail a copy of the order to Defendant Deanna Malachi.
The detailed version
- Sanon v. Kidz Discovery Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-10583
- Jesse Furman
- Mar. 27, 2023
Purpose of the order
This is a case-management order. It does not decide the merits of Sandra Sanon’s claims, the defendants’ defenses, or any motion.
Conference
The court changed the time of the telephone conference scheduled for April 4, 2023, to 9:30 a.m. The parties were directed to join using the court’s conference line and to follow Judge Furman’s telephone-conference procedures. No later than 24 hours before the conference, the parties must send the court a joint email identifying the people who may speak and the telephone numbers from which counsel expect to participate.
Required party submissions
The parties must confer before the conference about settlement and the other subjects covered by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16, which governs initial case-management conferences. Each party must submit a letter of no more than five pages by Thursday, March 30, 2023. The letters must separately address:
- The nature of the action and principal defenses;
- Why federal jurisdiction and venue are proper, including specified citizenship information for entities when diversity jurisdiction is claimed;
- Existing deadlines and cutoff dates;
- Outstanding motions;
- Discovery already completed and discovery needed for meaningful settlement discussions;
- Prior settlement discussions;
- Whether a settlement conference, district mediation, or private mediator would be appropriate and when; and
- Other information that could help advance the case toward settlement or trial, including dispositive or novel issues.
Procedures for a party without a lawyer
The order states that communications with the court by a party without a lawyer, including the required letter, should be filed through the Pro Se Intake Unit rather than sent directly to chambers. It describes available filing methods and explains that a party without a lawyer may seek permission to file electronically. It also states that requests for extensions or postponements must be made in writing at least 48 hours before the relevant deadline or conference, absent an emergency, and must provide specified information about prior requests, consent, and upcoming appearances.
The order describes a Pro Se Law Clinic operated by the New York Legal Assistance Group, a private organization that is not part of the court. It states that the clinic may be able to provide advice to an unrepresented party. The order also includes Judge Furman’s individual practices for civil cases involving parties without lawyers, covering communications, filing and service, discovery, motions, initial case-management conferences, and trial documents.
Other direction
The clerk was directed to mail a copy of the order to Defendant Deanna Malachi. The opinion does not state the parties’ underlying causes of action or impose a merits-based judgment.
Read the full 9-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.