Opinion
Case No.: 2:13-cv-00657-JAD-NJK
12-05-2013
Trustees of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Local 525 Health and Welfare Trust and Plan et al., Plaintiffs, v. Juan Carillio Sotelo dba Sotelo Air; Sotelo Air, Inc. dba Cool Air Now; Aegis Security Insurance Company; American Safety Casualty Insurance Co., Defendants.
Order Granting in Part Motion to
Strike Answer and Denying Motion for
Clerk's Entry of Default [#21, 22]
On November 15, 2013, Defendant Juan Carillio Sotelo filed an answer "in Proper Person and answering for" Sotelo Air; Sotelo Air, Inc. dba Cool Air Now; Aegis Security Insurance Company; and American Safety Casualty Insurance Co. Doc. 20. Plaintiffs move to strike the answer and to default these fictitious-entity defendants because the law prohibits non-attorney Sotelo from representing these parties in court. "It is a longstanding rule that corporations and other unincorporated associations must appear in court through an attorney." D-Beam Ltd. P'ship v. Roller Derby Skates, Inc., 366 F.3d 972, 973-74 (9th Cir. 2004) (citation and quotation marks omitted, second modification in original); Rowland v. California Men's Unit II Advisory Council, 506 U.S. 194, 202 (1993). A court may sanction a fictional defendant by striking its answer when it fails to retain counsel to defend itself. See Galtieri-Carlson v. Victoria M. Morton Enters., Inc., 2010 WL 3386473 (E.D.Cal. Aug. 26, 2010) (sanctioning corporate defendants by striking their answer when they failed to retain alternate counsel after the withdrawal of their original counsel); Rojas v. Hawgs Seafood Bar, Inc., 2009 WL 1255538 (N.D.Cal. May 5, 2009) ("When a corporation fails to retain counsel to represent it in an action, its answer may be stricken and a default judgment entered against it").
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs' Motion to Strike the Answer [#21] is GRANTED; the Answer on behalf of Sotelo Air, Inc. dba Cool Air Now, Aegis Security Ins. Co., and American Safety Casualty Ins. Co. is STRICKEN ;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Motion to Enter Clerk's Default against these fictitious defendants [#22] is DENIED without prejudice; Sotelo Air, Inc. dba Cool Air Now, Aegis Security Ins. Co., and American Safety Casualty Ins. Co. shall have up through and including December 20, 2013, to retain counsel and have new counsel file an answer on their behalf. Sotelo Air, Inc. dba Cool Air Now, Aegis Security Ins. Co., and American Safety Casualty Ins. Co. are strongly cautioned that failure to retain counsel and have counsel file a proper answer on their behalf by this deadline may result in the entry of default and a potential default judgment entered against them.
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JENNIFER A. DORSE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE