Schnell v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 4

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman on 1/2/2018 ORDERING that within fourteen (14) days, plaintiff's counsel shall personally pay the Court $250.00 in monetary sanctions based on his failure to comply with court orders and deadlines; within fourteen (14) days of this order, plaintiff shall pay the applicable filing fee or file a request for voluntary dismissal of the action without prejudice; Failure to timely comply with the terms of this order will result in dismissal of the action with prejudice pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). (cc Financial)(Becknal, R)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10
11

JONATHAN M.D. SCHNELL,

12
13
14
15

No. 2:17-cv-1941-KJN

Plaintiff,
v.
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL
SECURITY,

ORDER

16
17

Defendant.

18
19

On October 27, 2017, the court denied plaintiff’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis and

20

directed plaintiff to pay the applicable filing fee within 28 days, noting that the court would

21

entertain a request for a reasonable extension of time to pay the fee should such an extension be

22

necessary. (ECF No. 3.) However, plaintiff was expressly cautioned that failure to timely pay

23

the filing fee, or timely request an extension of time to do so, may result in dismissal of the action

24

pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). (Id.)

25

Although the applicable deadline has now long passed, plaintiff, who is represented by

26

counsel, failed to either pay the filing fee or request an extension of time. Consequently, the

27

court has considered whether the action should be dismissed at this juncture. Nevertheless, in

28

light of the court’s desire to resolve the action on the merits and avoid the harsh sanction of
1

1

dismissal, the court first imposes lesser monetary sanctions.

2

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

3

1. Within fourteen (14) days of this order, plaintiff’s counsel shall personally pay the

4

Clerk of Court $250.00 in monetary sanctions based on his failure to comply with

5

court orders and deadlines. Plaintiff’s counsel shall not attempt to recover the amount

6

of such sanctions from his client, directly or indirectly.

7
8
9
10
11

2. Within fourteen (14) days of this order, plaintiff shall pay the applicable filing fee or
file a request for voluntary dismissal of the action without prejudice.
3. Failure to timely comply with the terms of this order will result in dismissal of the
action with prejudice pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b).
Dated: January 2, 2018

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
2