Parker v. Bursor
- Tarnofsky
- 1:24-cv-00245
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Parker v. Bursor, Judge Tarnofsky ordered defense counsel to file an ex parte email and explained how to seek permission to file a motion under seal.
Defense counsel and Angelica Parker, the opposing party representing herself; the order also concerns any future request to seal a filing.
What happened
In Parker v. Bursor, defense counsel sent an email to Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky’s chambers without copying the opposing party, who was representing herself. The judge noted that counsel had previously been told to file a similar communication on the public docket.
The court ordered defense counsel to file the email on the docket. It also explained that any request to make a sealed motion for an emergency order requiring Parker to file her complaint under seal had to be filed on the docket and explain why sealing was justified.
Judge Tarnofsky did not decide whether the complaint or any motion should be sealed. This order addressed only communication procedures and the requirements for a possible sealing request.
The detailed version
- Parker v. Bursor · No. 1:24-cv-00245
- Tarnofsky
- Jan. 19, 2024
Background
Defense counsel sent an ex parte email—meaning a communication with the court that did not include the opposing party—to Judge Tarnofsky’s chambers. The judge stated that counsel had previously sent an ex parte email concerning this matter to Judge Clarke’s chambers and had then been directed to file that communication on the docket. The opinion identifies Parker as a party representing herself.
Order
Judge Tarnofsky ordered counsel for the defendants to file the email to chambers on the docket. The judge stated that, if counsel believed an urgent matter required an email under her Individual Rules, counsel should copy the opposing pro se party. Otherwise, the communication had to be filed on the docket.
The order also addressed a possible application to make a sealed motion for a temporary restraining order directing Parker to file her complaint under seal. The judge instructed counsel to file that application on the docket, explain the reasons for seeking to seal the submission, and address the request under the Court of Appeals’ decisions in Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga and Bernstein v. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman LLP. The court did not rule on whether any filing should be sealed or whether a temporary restraining order should issue.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.