In re: Lei Ke

Filing

NOT PRECEDENTIAL PER CURIAM OPINION Coram: SHWARTZ, NYGAARD and FISHER, Circuit Judges. Total Pages: 3. CLD-293

Case: 17-2154

Document: 003112670078

Page: 1

CLD-293

Date Filed: 07/10/2017

NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
___________
No. 17-2154
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IN RE: LEI KE,
Petitioner
____________________________________
On a Petition for Writ of Mandamus from the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
(Related to E.D. Pa. Civ. No. 2-11-cv-06708)
____________________________________
Submitted Pursuant to Rule 21, Fed. R. App. P.
June 29, 2017
Before: SHWARTZ, NYGAARD and FISHER, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: July 10, 2017 )
_________
OPINION*
_________

PER CURIAM
Lei Ke was a medical student at Drexel University College of Medicine (“Drexel”)
until it terminated him for poor academic performance. Ke then filed a racial
discrimination suit against Drexel, and the suit proved to be protracted and contentious.

*

This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not
constitute binding precedent.

Case: 17-2154

Document: 003112670078

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Date Filed: 07/10/2017

While it was pending, Ke filed a total of seven interlocutory appeals and mandamus
petitions with this Court, including three petitions seeking the District Judge’s
disqualification. We denied them. Proceedings on the merits finally came to a close
when the District Court entered summary judgment in Drexel’s favor. We affirmed, and
the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari. See Ke v. Drexel Univ., 645 F. App’x
161, 166 & n.12 (3d Cir. 2016), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct. 384 (2016).
After we affirmed, Drexel obtained from the District Court’s Clerk a judgment
taxing costs against Ke in the amount of $4,503.15. Ke appealed, but the Clerk’s
judgment was not a final order under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we dismissed his appeal
without prejudice to further review of costs by the District Court. See Ke v. Drexel
Univ., No. 16-2960, 2017 WL 1373276, at *2 (3d Cir. Apr. 13, 2017). Ke immediately
filed a motion to disqualify the District Judge, which the District Court denied. Ke then
filed the mandamus petition at issue here seeking the District Judge’s disqualification
from the taxation-of-costs proceeding.
After Ke filed this petition, however, Drexel withdrew its request for costs and
asked the District Court to finally close the case. The District Court approved that
request and closed the case on May 25, 2017. Although that ruling was favorable to Ke,
he filed a motion for reconsideration arguing that he had a “right” to know the costs for
which he would have been liable had Drexel pressed its request. The District Court
denied that motion on June 19, 2017. Thus, the taxation-of-costs proceeding and the case
as whole are now closed. Ke’s request that we disqualify the District Judge from
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Case: 17-2154

Document: 003112670078

Page: 3

Date Filed: 07/10/2017

presiding over the taxation-of-costs proceeding is moot, and we will dismiss his petition
on that basis.

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