Shiplane Transport, Inc. v. HWY 31 Exchange Inc.
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:23-cv-10073
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Shiplane Transport v. HWY 31 Exchange, Judge Caproni extended the deadline for Shiplane to obtain counsel and correct its filings.
Shiplane Transport, Inc. and Peter Francis Kennedy, whose filings, representation, mailing address, and deadline were addressed; the order also concerns the filings naming HWY 31 Exchange Inc., Mark Anthony Hafner, and Tania Renee Oropesa as defendants.
What happened
Shiplane Transport, Inc. filed this case without a lawyer, although corporations must appear in federal court through attorneys. Peter Francis Kennedy later filed a purported second amended complaint that attempted to remove Shiplane as a plaintiff and assign its claim to him.
Earlier filings also included account numbers, passport numbers, and birthdates that were not properly redacted. The court had ordered Shiplane to hire a lawyer, have that lawyer file a notice of appearance, and file a corrected complaint with the information redacted.
The court extended Shiplane’s deadline from January 12 to February 2, 2024, and directed the Clerk to resend the earlier order and this order to the updated address. Judge Valerie Caproni did not dismiss the case in this order.
The detailed version
- Shiplane Transport, Inc. v. HWY 31 Exchange Inc. · No. 1:23-cv-10073
- Valerie Caproni
- Jan. 9, 2024
Background
Shiplane Transport, Inc. filed the action without an attorney. The court had previously notified Shiplane that a corporation may appear in federal court only through a lawyer and that the case would be dismissed if Shiplane did not obtain counsel and have counsel file a notice of appearance.
Shiplane then filed an amended complaint without a lawyer. Peter Francis Kennedy later filed a document described by the court as a purported second amended complaint. That filing attempted to end Shiplane’s status as a plaintiff while also alleging that Shiplane was proceeding without a lawyer and assigning its claim to Kennedy. The court explained that a corporation may not avoid the attorney-representation requirement by assigning its claim to an individual who proceeds without a lawyer.
The complaints also attached documents containing account numbers, passport numbers, and birthdates of people or entities other than Kennedy or Shiplane. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 generally allows public filings to include only the birth year and the last four digits of a financial-account number unless the court orders otherwise. The court also noted that a plaintiff may amend a complaint without court permission only once before the defendant answers.
Order
On December 15, 2023, the court ordered Shiplane to do three things by January 12, 2024: hire counsel, have counsel file a notice of appearance on Shiplane’s behalf, and file a second amended complaint redacting the specified account numbers, passport numbers, and birthdates. That order stated that the action would be dismissed without prejudice if counsel did not appear by the deadline.
The court was notified that the December 15 order had been returned as undeliverable. It directed the Clerk to mail that order and the January 9 order to Kennedy and Shiplane at 2620 N. Oak Park Ave., Chicago, IL 60707, to record the mailing on the docket, and to revise Shiplane’s address on the docket.
Disposition
The court extended Shiplane’s deadline to hire counsel, have counsel file a notice of appearance, and submit a redacted second amended complaint from January 12, 2024, to February 2, 2024. This order did not dismiss the action. Judge Valerie Caproni signed the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.