Christian v. Lopez
- Gregory Woods
- 1:23-cv-10823
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ferris v. Lopez, Judge Woods scheduled conferences and warned that nonappearance could lead to dismissal for failure to prosecute.
Christian Ferris must attend the two scheduled telephone conferences; the defendants and the court are affected by the scheduling and attendance requirements.
What happened
In Christian Ferris v. Julissa Lopez, the court addressed Plaintiff Christian Ferris’s failure to attend a scheduled in-person initial pretrial conference.
The court scheduled a new initial pretrial conference for March 1, 2024, and a status conference for March 5, 2024. Both conferences will be held by telephone, and the court provided instructions for joining and participating.
Judge Gregory H. Woods ordered Ferris to attend both conferences and warned that another failure to appear would result in dismissal of his claims against the defendants for failure to prosecute. The court did not dismiss the claims in this order.
The detailed version
- Christian v. Lopez · No. 1:23-cv-10823
- Gregory Woods
- Feb. 22, 2024
Background
The court held an in-person initial pretrial conference on February 22, 2024. The conference had been scheduled since January 5, 2024. The court, court staff, and defense counsel attended, but Plaintiff Christian Ferris did not.
Court’s Order
The court scheduled another initial pretrial conference for March 1, 2024, at 10:00 a.m., and a status conference for March 5, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. Both conferences will be conducted by telephone. The court directed the parties to follow its Individual Rules of Practice in Civil Cases and provided the conference telephone number and access code.
The court also set procedures for the telephone conferences, including using a landline when possible, muting when not speaking, identifying oneself whenever speaking, spelling proper names for the court reporter, and avoiding interruptions. Recording the conferences is prohibited, and the conferences are open to the public.
Disposition and Warning
Judge Gregory H. Woods ordered Ferris to attend both conferences. The court stated that failing to comply with court orders may result in sanctions and warned that if Ferris fails to appear at the conferences, the court will dismiss his claims against the defendants for failure to prosecute. This order did not itself dismiss the claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.