Anzalone v. Nationwide Credit, Inc

Filing 11

ORDER BY JUDGE JEREMY FOGEL GRANTING 7 MOTION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAR PRO HAC VICE. (jflc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/11/2009)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Meier's requests to appear pro hac vice were granted in each of these cases. Anastasia Vasquez v. Erica Brachfeld, P.C., No: 3:08-cv-05499, Dkt. 18; Christine Sims v. NCO Financial Services, No. 3:08-cv-05347, Dkt. 12; Catalina Cruz v. CollectCorp Corproation, No. 5:08-cv03728, Dkt. 9; Rick Angelini v. Co-Operative Adjustment Bureau, No. 3:07-cv-05177, Dkt. 10.
C a s e Number 5:09-CV-04252 JF (HRL) O R D E R GRANTING MOTION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAR PRO HAC VICE ( JF L C 1 )
1

**E-Filed 12/11/2009**

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN JOSE DIVISION CINDY ANZALONE, Plaintiff, v. NATIONWIDE CREDIT, INC., Defendant. Case Number 5:09-CV-04252 JF (HRL) ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAR PRO HAC VICE Re: Docket No. 7

Richard J. Meier, counsel for Plaintiff in the above-captioned matter, seeks leave to appear pro hac vice pursuant to Civil L.R. 11-3. Defendant Nationwide Credit ("Defendant") opposes the requested relief, contending that Meier may not appear pro hac vice because he is "regularly engaged in the practice of law in the State of California." Civil L.R. 11-3(b)(ii). Defendant asserts that Meier has appeared in sixteen cases in California district courts since 2007, including four in the Northern District.1 Objection at 1-2, citing Ex. 1. A determination as to whether Meier's previous appearances amount to "regular engagement in the practice of law"

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

is within the discretion of the Court. The Court accepts Plaintiff's representation that Meier has appeared in more than two hundred matters nationwide since 2007 and that he currently is working on dozens of contested cases in other states. Compare Reply at 1-2 (explaining that Meier is the principal litigator of a national Fair Debt Collection Practices Act law firm and is employed at Legal Helpers, P.C.'s national headquarters in Chicago, Illinois); with Mendoza v. Golden West Sav. Ass'n Services Co., Guguni v. Chertoff, No. C 08-1850 JL, 2008 WL 2080788, at *1 (N.D. Cal. May 14, 2008) (vacating pro hac vice where counsel's place of business was located in California, he had appeared before the Northern District of California in five cases over the past three years, and no mention was made of counsel's caseload outside the State of California) and Mendoza v. Golden West Sav. Ass'n Services Co., No. CV 09-1200 GAF (VBKx), 2009 WL 2050486, at *2 (denying counsel's motion for leave to appear pro hac vice and concluding that its "chief concern" was counsel's dishonesty in completing the pro hac vice application). Meier's activities in California do not appear disproportionate under the circumstances. Accordingly, leave to appear pro hac vice will be granted.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED: 10/11/09 ____________________________ JEREMY FOGEL United States District Judge

2
C a s e Number 5:09-CV-04252 JF (HRL) O R D E R GRANTING MOTION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAR PRO HAC VICE (J FL C 1 )