Edible Arrangements LLC et al v. Drummond et al
Filing
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OPINION AND ORDER: Edible Creations, LLC, must appear by counsel in this matter on or before 12/22/2014, or be subject to an entry of default and default judgment. Signed by Magistrate Judge Roger B Cosbey on 11/20/2014. (lhc)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
FORT WAYNE DIVISION
EDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS, LLC, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
THOMAS DRUMMOND, et al.,
Defendants.
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Case No. 1:14-cv-00315
OPINION and ORDER
Plaintiffs filed this trademark infringement case here on October 4, 2014, against
Defendants Thomas Drummond and Edible Creations, LLC. (Docket # 1.) On November 17,
2014, Thomas Drummond, proceeding pro se, filed an answer on behalf of himself and Edible
Creations, LLC. (Docket # 9.)
Although Drummond may proceed pro se in this matter, Edible Creations, LLC, cannot.
See United States v. Hagerman, 545 F.3d 579, 581-82 (7th Cir. 2008); Robinson ex rel. Ind.
Reg’l Council of Carpenters Pension Trust Fund v. Vision Drywall, LLC, No. 2:07-cv-190, 2010
WL 2674475, at *3 (N.D. Ind. June 29, 2010) (“[A] limited liability company, unlike an
individual, may not proceed pro se in federal litigation.”). The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
has explained:
An individual is permitted by 28 U.S.C. § 1654 to proceed pro se in a civil case in
federal court because he might be unable to afford a lawyer, or a lawyer’s fee
might be too high relative to the stakes in the case to make litigation worthwhile
other than on a pro se basis. . . . But the right to conduct business in a form that
confers privileges, such as the limited personal liability of the owners for tort or
contract claims against the business, carries with it obligations one of which is to
hire a lawyer if you want to sue or defend on behalf of the entity. Pro se litigation
is a burden on the judiciary, and the burden is not to be borne when the litigant
has chosen to do business in entity form. He must take the burdens with the
benefits.
Hagerman, 545 F.3d at 581-82 (citations omitted).
Therefore, Edible Creations, LLC, must appear by counsel in this matter on or before
December 22, 2014, or be subject to an entry of default and default judgment. See id.; Kipp v.
Royal & Sun Alliance Pers. Ins. Co., 209 F. Supp. 2d 962, 963 (E.D. Wis. 2002).
SO ORDERED.
Entered this 20th day of November 2014.
/S/ Roger B. Cosbey
Roger B. Cosbey,
United States Magistrate Judge
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