Fred Alston as a Trustee of the Local 272 Labor Management Pension Fund v…
Fred Alston as a Trustee of the Local 272 Labor Management Pension Fund v. Centerpark Services LLC
- Sarah Netburn
- 1:23-cv-09362
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Fred Alston v. Centerpark Services, Judge Ho ordered Defendants to respond to Plaintiffs’ default-judgment motion and attend a hearing.
The order affected Fred Alston as a trustee of the Local 272 Labor Management Pension Fund and the other Plaintiffs, who had to serve the motion and order and file proof of service, as well as Centerpark Services LLC and the other Defendants, who were given a deadline to oppose the motion and ordered to appear and show cause.
What happened
Fred Alston, as trustee of the Local 272 Labor Management Pension Fund, and the other Plaintiffs asked the court for a default judgment against Centerpark Services LLC and the other Defendants. They filed that motion on February 12, 2024.
The court ordered Defendants to oppose the motion by February 26, 2024, if they wished to do so. It also warned that corporate entities must appear through licensed lawyers. Plaintiffs had to serve the motion and the order on Defendants by February 16 and file proof of service afterward.
Judge Dale E. Ho ordered Defendants to appear and explain on March 5, 2024, why default judgment should not be entered. The court did not grant or deny the default-judgment motion in this order, and it postponed the previously scheduled initial pretrial conference.
The detailed version
- Fred Alston as a Trustee of the Local 272 Labor Management Pension Fund v… · No. 1:23-cv-09362
- Sarah Netburn
- Feb. 14, 2024
Background
On February 12, 2024, Plaintiffs filed a motion for default judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(2) and Local Civil Rule 55.2(b). A default judgment is a judgment that may be entered when a defendant has failed to defend the case. The order does not state the underlying claims or explain why Plaintiffs sought that judgment.
What the Court Ordered
The court ordered Defendants to file any opposition to the motion by February 26, 2024. It cautioned that corporate entities may appear in federal court only through licensed counsel and noted that repeated failure to appear through counsel can lead to default judgment.
The court also ordered Defendants to appear and show cause at a March 5, 2024 hearing at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time. At that hearing, Defendants were to explain why the court should not grant default judgment against them. The order stated that the hearing would be conducted remotely by telephone unless the court later ordered otherwise.
If a Defendant appeared, opposed the motion, or sought permission to respond to the complaint after the deadline, the March 5 hearing would instead be treated as that Defendant’s initial pretrial conference. In that event, the parties had to follow the court’s earlier pre-conference procedures, including submitting a joint letter and proposed case-management plan by February 27, 2024.
The court ordered Plaintiffs to serve each Defendant by Federal Express with the default-judgment motion, its supporting papers, and the order by February 16, 2024. Plaintiffs also had to file proof of service within three business days after each service. Finally, the court postponed the initial pretrial conference previously scheduled for February 27, 2024, without setting a new date.
Disposition
Judge Dale E. Ho did not grant or deny the motion for default judgment in this order. Instead, the court set deadlines, ordered a show-cause appearance, established possible procedures if a Defendant appeared, and postponed the previously scheduled initial pretrial conference.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.