WINE & CANVAS DEVELOPMENT LLC v. WEISSER et al

Filing 210

ORDER - granting 131 Motion for Clerk's Entry of Default. The Clerk of Courts is ordered to enter default against the Third Party Counterclaim Defendants Theodore Weisser, YN Canvas CA, LLC, and Weisser Management Group, LLC, as well as Defendants Weisser Management Group, LLC and YN Canvas CA, LLC. Signed by Judge Tanya Walton Pratt on 11/22/2013. Copy Mailed. (CKM)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION
WINE & CANVAS DEVELOPMENT,
LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.
THEODORE WEISSER, CHRISTOPHER
MUYLLE, and YN CANVAS CA, LLC,
Defendants.
___________________________________
CHRISTOPHER MUYLLE,
Counterclaim Plaintiff and
Third Party Plaintiff,
v.
WINE & CANVAS DEVELOPMENT,
LLC,
Counterclaim Defendant, and
DONALD McCRACKEN, ANTHONY
SCOTT, and TAMRA SCOTT,
Third Party Defendants and Third Party
Counterclaimants.

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Case No. 1:11-cv-01598-TWP-DKL

ORDER ON MOTION FOR CLERK’S DEFAULT
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff’s, Wine & Canvas Development, LLC, and
Third Party Counterclaimants’, Donald McCracken, Anthony Scott, and Tamra Scott, Request
for Clerk’s Entry of Default (Dkt. 131).1 Since the motion was initially filed, several parties
have been removed from this lawsuit. Thus, as the motion currently stands, Plaintiffs seek
Clerk’s entry of default for Third Party Counterclaim Defendants, Theodore Weisser, YN
1

For ease of reference, these parties will be referred to collectively as “Plaintiffs.”

Canvas CA, LLC, and Weisser Management Group, LLC (collectively, “Third Party
Counterclaim Defendants”). Plaintiffs also seek Clerk’s entry of default for Defendants Weisser
Management Group, LLC and YN Canvas CA, LLC.
In support of the motion, Plaintiffs assert that Third Party Counterclaim Defendants have
not filed an answer to the Third Party Counterclaim.

Additionally, Defendants Weisser

Management Group, LLC and YN Canvas CA, LLC, have not filed an answer to the Complaint.
“When a party against whom a judgment for affirmative relief is sought has failed to plead or
otherwise defend, and that failure is shown by affidavit or otherwise, the clerk must enter the
party’s default.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a). A review of the docket reveals that Plaintiffs’ assertions
are correct and none of the Third Party Counterclaim Defendants have answered the Third Party
Counterclaim, nor have Defendants Weisser Management Group, LLC and YN Canvas CA, LLC
answered the Complaint. Moreover, YN Canvas CA, LLC and Weisser Management Group,
LLC, are corporate entities without legal counsel.

While 28 U.S.C. § 1654 protects an

individual’s rights to plead and conduct his or her own cases personally, that right has never been
extended to corporate entities. “A corporation cannot litigate in federal court pro se.” Old Ben
Coal Co. v. Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, 476 F.3d 418, 418–19 (7th Cir. 2007).
Therefore, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(a) and the rule that corporate entities
cannot litigate pro se, the Court finds that a Clerk’s entry of default is appropriate against Third
Party Counterclaim Defendants YN Canvas CA, LLC, and Weisser Management Group, LLC, as
well as Defendants Weisser Management Group, LLC and YN Canvas CA, LLC. Further,
because Theodore Weisser, pro se, has failed to plead or otherwise defend as provided by the
Rules, a Clerk’s entry of default is appropriate against him individually as a Third Party
Counterclaim Defendant.

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Plaintiffs’ Request for Clerk’s Entry of Default (Dkt. 131) is GRANTED. The Clerk of
Courts is ordered to enter default against the Third Party Counterclaim Defendants Theodore
Weisser, YN Canvas CA, LLC, and Weisser Management Group, LLC, as well as Defendants
Weisser Management Group, LLC and YN Canvas CA, LLC.

SO ORDERED.
11/22/2013
Date: _____________

________________________
Hon. Tanya Walton Pratt, Judge
United States District Court
Southern District of Indiana

DISTRIBUTION:
Ronald J. Waicukauski
PRICE WAICUKAUSKI & RILEY
[e-mail]
Carol Nemeth Joven
PRICE WAICUKAUSKI & RILEY
[e-mail]
P. Adam Davis
DAVIS & SARBINOFF LLP
[e-mail]
Charles Johnson Meyer
WOODARD EMHARDT MORIARTY
McNETT & HENRY, LLP
[e-mail]
William A. McKenna
WOODARD EMHARDT MORIARTY
McNETT & HENRY, LLP
[e-mail]
Theodore Weisser
25 Rodeo Avenue, Apt. 2
Sausalito, California 94965

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