Ivanovich v. IRS

Filing 13

ORDER: plaintiff must serve defendant on or before April 9, 2012, or else this lawsuit will be dismissed without prejudice under Rule 4(m). Signed by Judge Joan G. Margolis on 3/12/2012. (Rodko, B.)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

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STEPHEN C. IVANOVICH
:
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V.
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IRS
:
:
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3:10 CV 1123 (JBA)

DATE: MARCH 12, 2012

ORDER
On July 16, 2010, plaintiff filed his pro se Complaint (Dkt. #2), as well as his Motion
for Leave to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Dkt. #1), and this file was referred to this Magistrate
Judge five days later. (Dkt. #5). On August 4, 2010, plaintiff’s IFP Motion was denied by
this Magistrate Judge (Dkt. #7), as to which plaintiff filed an Objection thirteen days later.
(Dkt. #9). On July 13, 2011, U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton overruled plaintiff’s
objection (Dkt #12), and plaintiff paid his filing fee twelve days later, on July 27, 2011.
Plaintiff also had filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction on July 30, 2010 (Dkt. #6),
which was referred to this Magistrate Judge on October 19, 2010. (Dkt. #10). The next day,
the motion was denied without prejudice to renew (Dkt. #11), after Judge Arterton ruled upon
the then pending objection.
There is no indication in the electronic docket sheet that defendant ever has been
served with this lawsuit.
Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides in part:
If a defendant is not served within 120 days after the complaint is filed,
the court–on motion or on its own after notice to the plaintiff–must dismiss the
action without prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made
within a specified time. But if the plaintiff shows good cause for the failure,
the court must extend the time for service for an appropriate period. . . .
Substantially more than 120 days have passed since the filing of the complaint on

July 16, 2010, and substantially more than 120 days have passed since plaintiff paid the filing
fee on July 25, 2011. Because plaintiff is pro se, the Court will not, at this time, dismiss the
lawsuit, but instead “order that service be made within a specified time.” Therefore, plaintiff
must serve defendant on or before April 9, 2012, or else this lawsuit will be dismissed
without prejudice under Rule 4(m).
Dated at New Haven, Connecticut, this 12th day of March, 2012.

/s/ Joan G. Margolis, USMJ__________
Joan Glazer Margolis
United States Magistrate Judge

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