Shapiro v. Adams
- Katherine Failla
- 1:22-cv-02603
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Shapiro v. Adams, Judge Failla ordered an effort to find a volunteer lawyer for Shapiro’s mediation.
Normal Shapiro, who was proceeding without a lawyer, was affected by the order. The Clerk of Court was directed to seek a volunteer lawyer for Shapiro’s mediation, and the defendants were involved in the case but were not subject to a merits ruling in this order.
What happened
In Shapiro v. Adams, the court had referred the pro se case to its mediation program. The order concerned representation for that mediation, not the underlying claims.
The court ordered the Clerk of Court to try to locate a volunteer lawyer for Shapiro. That lawyer would represent Shapiro only during mediation, and the representation would end when mediation concluded. The deadline for assigning a mediator was postponed until the lawyer filed a notice of limited representation. Shapiro had 14 days to object to the request for counsel.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla issued the order on July 31, 2023. The Clerk was also directed to mail Shapiro a copy of the order.
The detailed version
- Shapiro v. Adams · No. 1:22-cv-02603
- Katherine Failla
- July 31, 2023
Background
The court had referred this pro se case—one in which the plaintiff was proceeding without a lawyer—to the court’s Mediation Program on July 28, 2023. The opinion does not address the underlying claims against Eric Adams and the City of New York.
Order
The court ordered the Clerk of Court to attempt to locate pro bono counsel, meaning a volunteer lawyer, to represent Plaintiff at mediation. The volunteer lawyer would contact Plaintiff directly. The representation would be limited to the mediation and would end when the mediation process concluded.
The court deferred the time for assigning a mediator under Local Civil Rule 83.9 and the court’s Mediation Program Procedures until the volunteer lawyer filed a Notice of Limited Appearance of Pro Bono Counsel. Plaintiff was allowed 14 days from the order to file any objection to the court’s request for volunteer counsel. The order also explained that pro se litigants are not entitled to choose their volunteer lawyer; if Plaintiff did not work with the volunteer lawyer or law-school clinic that contacted Plaintiff, Plaintiff could obtain counsel independently or continue without a lawyer, including during mediation.
Disposition
This was an ancillary mediation and counsel-assignment order. It did not decide the merits of Plaintiff’s claims. Judge Katherine Polk Failla directed the Clerk to mail a copy of the order to Plaintiff’s address of record.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.