Luna et al v. County of Kern et al

Filing 198

ORDER DENYING Substitution of Counsel 194 195 196 197 , signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 3/26/2018. (Hall, S)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 OSCAR LUNA, et al., 12 13 14 15 Plaintiffs, v. Case No.: 1:16-cv-00568 DAD JLT ORDER DENYING SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL (Docs. 194-197) COUNTY OF KERN, et al., Defendants. 16 17 In this action, the plaintiffs challenge the supervisorial district boundaries under the Voting 18 Rights Act. (Doc. 1) Though the plaintiffs named each member of the Kern County Board of 19 Supervisors and other County officials in addition to the County of Kern, they named the 20 individuals only in their official capacities. Id. The plaintiffs seek declaratory relief, injunctive 21 relief and an order of the Court redrawing the districts to comply with the Voting Rights Act. Id. 22 The Court is engaged in the remedy portion of this action. Toward that end, it has ordered 23 the parties to engage in settlement discussions and ordered the parties to appear for a settlement 24 conference on March 28, 2018 (Doc. 193) On March 23, 2018, one of the members of the Board of 25 Supervisors, David Couch, filed substitutions of counsel forms seeking to be represented 26 27 28 1 1 separately from the attorneys who have defended the County throughout.1 (Docs. 194-197) The substitutions of attorney forms fail to have the signatures of current counsel consenting 2 3 to the substitution and do not sufficiently evidence consent by the entity. (Docs. 194-197) Thus, 4 the requests for substitution of counsel are DENIED without prejudice. 5 requests are renewed, they SHALL be filed by way of noticed motion and the motion SHALL be 6 set before the Honorable Dale A. Drozd. In the event that these 7 8 IT IS SO ORDERED. 9 Dated: March 26, 2018 /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 The Court presumes that Mr. Couch is dissatisfied by the anticipated settlement positions of the County of Kern. Of course, he is welcome to attend the settlement conference, but the Court expects that the County will speak at the conference with only one voice. 2

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