Mottola v. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-02744
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Mottola v. Cravath, Judge Swain ordered payment or a fee-waiver application within 30 days, warning that noncompliance would lead to dismissal without prejudice.
Carol M. Mottola must either pay the $405 in fees or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days. If she does neither and does not seek an extension, the action will be dismissed without prejudice to refiling.
What happened
In Mottola v. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, Carol M. Mottola submitted a civil action to the Southern District of New York by email. The opinion does not address the claims’ merits.
The court ordered Mottola, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in fees or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without paying the fees upfront. Until one of those steps occurs, the court said it would take no further action, and no summons or answer would be required.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain stated that failure to comply, or to request more time, would result in dismissal without prejudice to refiling. She also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal and certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Mottola v. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP · No. 1:24-cv-02744
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 16, 2024
Background
Carol M. Mottola submitted this civil action to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by email. The order does not describe the claims against Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP or the other defendants and does not decide their merits.
Fee or fee-waiver requirement
The court explained that a plaintiff must either pay the required fees or request permission to proceed without paying them upfront. It ordered Mottola to do one of the following within 30 days of the order’s date:
- Pay $405 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee; or - Complete, sign, and submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees or costs.
The court stated that no further action would be taken and no summons would issue or answer would be required until it received payment or a completed and signed application. If the court grants the application, Mottola will be permitted to proceed without prepaying the fees.
Disposition and appeal certification
The court ordered that if Mottola failed to comply within the allowed time, or failed to request an extension, the action would be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order as Chief United States District Judge.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.