U.S. Commodity Futures Trading v. Steele et al

Filing 38

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that there will be a hearing on defense counsels motion for leave to withdraw [#37] on March 26, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. in Courtroom 16-South. Defendants are required to appear in person for the hearing, and defendant Champion Management International, LLC, shall appear by and through an authorized corporate representative. Defense counsel is responsible for notifying his clients of this hearing and securing their attendance. Plaintiffs counsel may participate in the hearing by telephone if they so notifymy chambers no later than noon on March 24, 2014. Signed by District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on 3/14/14. (JWD)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING,)
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Plaintiff,
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vs.
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DANIEL K. STEELE, et al.,
)
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Defendants.
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Case No. 4:13 CV 1900 RWS

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before me on defense counsel’s motion to withdraw as counsel of record
for the defendants. However one of the defendants, Champion Management International, is a
corporation and cannot represent itself.

No other counsel has entered an appearance on behalf

of defendants. As such, if I were to grant the motion Champion Management would be in
default. Counsel’s motion does not state whether defendants understand the consequences of
appearing pro se as individuals, that corporations cannot represent themselves, and that the
defendant corporation is nevertheless requesting that counsel withdraw knowing that a default
will be entered against it. All of this information is necessary before the Court can even begin to
consider whether to grant counsel’s motion. For this reason, a hearing on defendants’ motion is
necessary. Defendants are required to be present for the hearing, and defendant Champion
Management shall appear by and through an authorized corporate representative. Defense
counsel is required to notify defendants of this hearing and to secure his clients’ appearance at
the hearing. Plaintiff’s counsel may participate in the hearing by telephone, but if they choose to
do so they must notify my chambers of that fact no later than noon on March 24, 2014.
Finally, the Court also notes that defendants – by and through counsel –are required to

file a joint memorandum with plaintiff today outlining the status of the case and what further
action, if any, is required. The Court still expects defense counsel to comply with this Order and
to participate in the filing of the status memorandum as previously ordered.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that there will be a hearing on defense counsel’s motion for
leave to withdraw [#37] on March 26, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. in Courtroom 16-South. Defendants
are required to appear in person for the hearing, and defendant Champion Management
International, LLC, shall appear by and through an authorized corporate representative.
Defense counsel is responsible for notifying his clients of this hearing and securing their
attendance. Plaintiff’s counsel may participate in the hearing by telephone if they so notify
my chambers no later than noon on March 24, 2014.

RODNEY W. SIPPEL
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Dated this day 14th of March, 2014.

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