Arch Insurance Company v. Sierra Equipment Rental, Inc. et al

Filing 159

ORDER signed by District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on 1/27/2016 ORDERING that the 146 Order to Show Cause as to Mr. Rooney is DISCHARGED. Mr. Rooney is ORDERED to file a formal motion to withdraw as counsel in compliance with the Local Rules and Rules of Professional Responsibility no later than 2/11/2016, set for hearing no later than 3/11/2016. The motion hearing on plaintiff's 153 Motion for Partial Summary Judgment set for 2/12/2016 is hereby VACATED and RESET for 4/8/2016 at 10:00 a.m. (Zignago, K.)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ARCH INSURANCE COMPANY, 12 13 14 15 16 No. 2:12-cv-00617-KJM-KJN Plaintiff, v. ORDER SIERRA EQUIPMENT RENTAL, INC., et al., Defendants. 17 18 At the Status (Pretrial Scheduling) Conference on October 30, 2014, Kevin 19 Rooney, counsel for defendant Sierra Equipment Rental, Inc. (“Sierra”), told the court he has no 20 authority to act on behalf of Sierra pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 327 and asked to be removed as 21 counsel of record. After discussing the matter with the parties, the court ordered the parties to 22 enter a stipulation providing that Mr. Rooney is no longer counsel of record for Sierra. See ECF 23 No. 220. Counsel for plaintiff Arch Insurance Company subsequently refused to execute the 24 stipulation, and instead requested that Mr. Rooney file a formal motion to withdraw as counsel 25 under the Local Rules and Rules of Professional Conduct. ECF No. 112. To date, Mr. Rooney 26 has not filed a motion to withdraw as counsel. 27 28 On July 16, 2015, Mr. Rooney did not appear for defendant Sierra at the Status Conference. Accordingly, the court ordered Mr. Rooney to show cause within fourteen days why 1 1 he should not be sanctioned in the amount of $250.00 for failing to appear. ECF No. 146. The 2 court’s Order to Show Cause provided, “Although Mr. Rooney previously has indicated his desire 3 to withdraw as counsel, his withdrawal has not been approved by the court and Sierra Equipment 4 Rental, as a corporation, cannot proceed without counsel.” Id. On August 3, 2015, Mr. Rooney 5 filed a declaration in response to the court’s Order to Show Cause, explaining that based on the 6 court’s October 30, 2014 Status Conference, he did not believe that he needed to participate any 7 further in this action. ECF No. 148. Because he did not receive a response from the court to his 8 August 3, 2015 Declaration, Mr. Rooney filed a supplemental declaration on January 21, 2016, 9 which has brought the issue back to the court’s attention. ECF No. 158. 10 Based on the foregoing, the court orders the following: 11 1. The court’s July 22, 2015 Order to Show Cause as to Mr. Rooney (ECF 12 13 No. 146) is hereby DISCHARGED. 2. Mr. Rooney is ordered to file a formal motion to withdraw as counsel in 14 compliance with the Local Rules and Rules of Professional Responsibility no 15 later than February 11, 2016, set for hearing no later than March 11, 2016. 16 3. The motion hearing on plaintiff’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF 17 No. 153) set for February 12, 2016 is hereby VACATED and RESET for April 18 8, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. 19 20 IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: January 27, 2016. 21 22 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 23 24 25 26 27 28 2

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