Emerson Hall Associates, L.P. v. Travelers Casualty Insurance Company of America

Filing 40

REDACTED ORDER granting 26 Motion to Withdraw as Attorney. Plaintiff shall have until 3/7/2016 to retain a new attorney. The court will hold a status conference with all parties in mid-March to determine what should happen next. Signed by Magistrate Judge Stephen L. Crocker on 2/5/2016. (arw)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

EMERSON HALL ASSOCIATES, L.P.,
Plaintiff,

EX PARTE ORDER

v.
15-cv-447-jdp
TRAVELERS CASUALTY INSURANCE
COMPANY OF AMERICA,
Defendant.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
On December 15, 2015, Attorney Derek R. Allen of Shannon Law Office, LLC, moved to
withdraw and to terminate his representation of plaintiff in this lawsuit. (Dkt. 26). On December
31, 2015, plaintiff, by its representative, Thomas J. Hampton, filed a written opposition to Attorney
Allen’s motion to withdraw. (Dkt. 31, ex parte and under seal). On January 14, 2016, I held an ex
parte telephonic hearing on this motion, with both Mr. Hampton and Attorney Allen presenting their
perspectives on the motion to withdraw. As noted in the contemporaneously-issued text-only order
(dkt. 32), I acceded to Mr. Hampton’s request for one more opportunity to try to work out Attorney
Allen’s concerns.
On January 26, 2016, Attorney Allen submitted a letter reporting that after several
conversations with Mr. Hampton, they were not able to resolve Attorney Allen’s concerns, so he was
persisting in his motion to withdraw. (Dkt. 37, ex parte and under seal). This prompted a response
in opposition from Mr. Hampton, to which he attached documents outlining his positions on the
issues that concerned Attorney Allen. (Dkt. 38, ex parte and under seal). This submission contains
a great deal of privileged information, which Mr. Hampton had every right to share with the court
to make his points. That said, Judge Peterson does not intend to read this submission so that there
can be no question later whether any of his decisions in this case were influenced by information
gleaned from Mr. Hampton’s submission.

The bottom line is that this court will not force Attorney Allen to remain on this case and
represent Emerson Hall Associates, L.P. against his will and against his professional judgment. This
is not a finding that Attorney Allen is right and Mr. Hampton is wrong. I am not in a position to
make that determination. I can determine and now conclude that the attorney-client relationship
between Attorney Allen and his client is broken and cannot be fixed. The breakdown in trust and
communication between Mr. Hampton and Attorney Allen is profound and irremediable. Mr.
Hampton wants this court to order Attorney Allen to remain on this case and to pursue this lawsuit
in the fashion that Mr. Hampton thinks it should be litigated. That wouldn’t solve the problem.
However angry and frustrated Mr. Hampton is with Attorney Allen at this point, things would only
get worse if this court forced Attorney Allen to stay on this case. I am letting him out, and giving
Mr. Hampton time to find a new attorney who may be able to advocate Mr. Hampton’s positions
in a manner more to Mr. Hampton’s liking.

ORDER
It is ORDERED that:
(1) Th motion by Attorney Derek R. Allen of Shannon Law Office LLC to withdraw and to
terminate representation of plaintiff is GRANTED.
(2) Plaintiff shall have until March 7, 2016 to retain a new attorney to represent it in this
lawsuit.
(3) The court will hold a status conference with all parties in mid-March, 2016 to determine
what should happen next.

Entered this 5 th day of February, 2016.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
STEPHEN L. CROCKER
Magistrate Judge

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