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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Dec. 19, 2023

D.W. v. Boy Scouts of America

Judge
Philip Halpern
Docket
7:20-cv-01383
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
BankruptcyCivil Procedure
In one sentence

In D.W. v. Boy Scouts of America, Judge Halpern administratively closed the case without prejudice, allowing either party to move by letter to reopen within 30 days.

Who this affects

D.W. and Boy Scouts of America, et al.; all conferences and other scheduled court appearances were cancelled.

What happened

In D.W. v. Boy Scouts of America, the court had previously said the case would be administratively closed unless the parties explained why it should remain active during the bankruptcy proceeding. The parties did not submit that explanation or otherwise contact the court.

The court ordered the clerk to administratively close the case without prejudice. Either party may file a letter motion to reopen within 30 days after the bankruptcy proceeding concludes or the automatic stay is otherwise lifted.

Judge Philip M. Halpern also cancelled all conferences and other scheduled court appearances. The order did not decide the underlying claims.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
D.W. v. Boy Scouts of America · No. 7:20-cv-01383
Judge
Philip Halpern
Date
Dec. 19, 2023

Background

On December 11, 2023, the court ordered that the case would be administratively closed unless the parties filed a letter by December 18 explaining why the stayed case should remain open and active. The order also stated that the case could be reopened within 30 days after the bankruptcy proceeding concluded.

The parties did not file the required letter and had not otherwise communicated with the court.

Ruling

The court ordered the clerk to administratively close the case, without prejudice to either party filing a letter motion to reopen within 30 days after the conclusion of the bankruptcy proceeding or another lifting of the automatic stay. An administrative closure is a docket-management action; the court's cited authorities describe its effect as the same as a stay and say it has no jurisdictional significance.

The court cancelled all conferences and other scheduled court appearances. The order did not decide the merits of the parties' underlying claims.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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