Patel v. The United States
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-03392
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Patel v. United States, Judge Swain granted Patel’s voluntary-dismissal request, closing the case and requiring court permission before any refiling.
Raj K. Patel, the United States, and Columbia University in the City of New York; the order also requires Patel to obtain court permission before refiling and denies him permission to appeal without paying court fees.
What happened
In Patel v. The United States and Columbia University in the City of New York, Raj K. Patel, representing himself, filed this action and asked for permission to proceed. An earlier order had required him to obtain permission before filing new actions without paying court fees.
Patel later asked to withdraw the case. The court granted that request and dismissed the action under Rule 41(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that any refiling must comply with the earlier permission requirement, directed the clerk to terminate two motions, and closed the case. She also denied permission to appeal without paying court fees because the appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Patel v. The United States · No. 1:24-cv-03392
- Laura Swain
- May 9, 2024
Background
Raj K. Patel, who was representing himself, filed this action on April 24, 2024. In a prior related proceeding, Judge Swain had barred Patel from filing new civil actions in this court without paying court fees unless he first obtained permission from the court. In this action, Patel filed a motion seeking that permission.
On May 2, 2024, Patel filed a notice asking to voluntarily withdraw the action.
Ruling
The court granted Patel’s request and dismissed the action under Rule 41(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which governs voluntary dismissal. The order states that if Patel seeks to refile the action, he must include a motion for permission to file it and comply with the earlier order.
The clerk was directed to terminate the motions at docket numbers 4 and 6, and the order closed the case. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Patel permission to appeal without paying court fees. The opinion did not address the underlying claims against the United States or Columbia University in the City of New York.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.