AEye, Inc. v. All Blue Falcons FZE
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:22-cv-04964
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In AEye v. All Blue Falcons, Judge Abrams stayed the action, set a September 1 deadline for counsel or a status letter, and conditioned AEye’s leave to seek default judgment.
All Blue Falcons FZE, which was required to obtain new counsel or file a status letter; AEye, Inc., which could seek a Certificate of Default and move for default judgment if All Blue failed to comply.
What happened
AEye, Inc. v. All Blue Falcons FZE concerns All Blue’s failure to obtain new counsel after its lawyers withdrew. The court had previously directed All Blue to retain counsel or report on its efforts because corporations cannot represent themselves in court.
The court gave All Blue until September 1, 2023, to have a new attorney enter an appearance or file the required status letter. It also said AEye could obtain a certificate of default and seek default judgment if All Blue did neither, and directed the Clerk to stay the case until further order.
Judge Ronnie Abrams issued the August 8, 2023 order. The order did not enter default judgment; it set a deadline and stated what could happen if All Blue failed to comply.
The detailed version
- AEye, Inc. v. All Blue Falcons FZE · No. 1:22-cv-04964
- Ronnie Abrams
- Aug. 8, 2023
Background
AEye, Inc. was the plaintiff and counterclaim-defendant. All Blue Falcons FZE was the defendant and counterclaim-plaintiff. On June 27, 2023, Judge Figueredo granted the request of All Blue’s lawyers—Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP, Jeremy M. King, and Jacqueline Y. Ma—to withdraw. All Blue was directed to obtain new counsel by July 28, 2023, or file a letter reporting the status of its efforts. The order noted that corporations may not proceed without a lawyer.
All Blue had not filed the required letter, and no new attorney had entered an appearance. AEye had sought permission to move for default judgment if All Blue did not retain counsel or file the required letter by July 28.
Ruling
The court ordered that, no later than September 1, 2023, a new attorney must enter an appearance for All Blue or All Blue must file the status letter required by the earlier order. If All Blue took neither action by that date, the court stated that AEye would be granted leave to obtain a Certificate of Default and move for default judgment. A Certificate of Default is a clerk’s formal entry that a party failed to defend the case; it is not itself a default judgment.
The Clerk of Court was directed to stay the action pending further order from the court. The order did not enter default, grant default judgment, or decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.