American Services, LLC v. M&A Land Management, LLC, Eric Pettigrew, Justin Harris, James Hinton, and John Does 1-10

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi grants defense counsel Richard Gerald Norris II’s unopposed motion to withdraw. Because the withdrawal leaves the defendant limited liability company without counsel, the court stays the case for 30 days, gives the defendants time to obtain counsel or proceed pro se where permitted, and extends case-management deadlines by 30 days.

Holdings

1. The court granted the unopposed motion for defense counsel to withdraw.
2. A limited liability company may not represent itself or be represented in federal court by an owner or officer who is not a licensed attorney.
3. The court stayed the case for 30 days and extended all case-management deadlines by 30 days to allow M&A Land Management, LLC to obtain counsel.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the defendants' counsel should be permitted to withdraw when withdrawal would leave the limited liability company without counsel.
2. Whether the case should be stayed and case-management deadlines extended to allow the limited liability company to obtain new counsel.
3. Whether the individual defendants could proceed pro se after counsel's withdrawal.

Disposition

other