Gilbert v. Petro Star Oil Co. ( 2022 )

1 Tanya E. Moore, SBN 206683 MOORE LAW FIRM, P.C. 2 300 South First Street, Suite 342 San Jose, California 95113 3 Telephone: (408) 298-2000 Facsimile: (408) 298-6046 4 Email: service@moorelawfirm.com 5 Attorney for Plaintiff, Darren Gilbert 6 7 Faraz A. Saeed, Trustee Faraz A. Saeed 2020 Family Trust 8 2399 Florin Road Sacramento, California 95822 9 Telephone: (916) 428-1146 Facsimile: (916) 428-1477 10 Email: farazasaeed@gmail.com 11 Pro Se Defendant 12 Muhammed R. Saeed, Trustee 13 Faraz A. Saeed 2020 Family Trust 6883 Grant Avenue 14 Carmichael, California 95608 Telephone: (916) 428-1146 15 Facsimile: (916) 428-1477 Email: chrsaeed@hotmail.com 16 Pro Se Defendant 17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 18 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 1 29 0 DARREN GILBERT, ) No. 2:22-cv-01015-KJN 21 ) Plaintiff, ) STIPULATION TO SET ASIDE 22 ) DEFAULT; ORDER vs. ) 23 ) PETRO STAR OIL CO., et al., ) 24 ) 25 Defendants. ) ) ) 26 ) ) 27 ) 28 1 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between Plaintiff, Darren Gilbert (“Plaintiff”), 2 by and through his attorney, and Defendants, Petro Star Oil Co., Faraz A. Saeed, Trustee of the 3 Faraz A. Saeed 2020 Family Trust, and Muhammad R. Saeed, Trustee of the Faraz A. Saeed 4 2020 Family Trust (“Defendants,” and together with Plaintiff, “the Parties”), in which, Petro Star 5 Oil Co. is unrepresented and is specially appearing on its own behalf for the sole purpose of 6 obtaining this stipulation, and that the Clerk’s Default entered against Petro Star Oil Co. on July 7 26, 2022 (Dkt. 11) be and is hereby set aside, and that an answer on behalf of Petro Star Oil Co. 8 shall be filed within twenty-one (21) days of the entry of the order setting aside the default. 9 Good cause exists because the Parties desire for the case to be heard on its merits. 10 IT IS SO STIPULATED. 11 12 Dated: November 7, 2022 MOORE LAW FIRM, P.C. 13 /s/ Tanya E. Moore 14 Tanya E. Moore Attorney for Plaintiff, 15 Darren Gilbert 16 Dated: November 7, 2022 /s/ Faraz A. Saeed 17 Petro Star Oil Co. Pro Se Defendant 18 19 Dated: November 7, 2022 /s/ Faraz A. Saeed 20 Faraz A. Saeed, Trustee of the Faraz A. Saeed 2020 Family Trust 21 Pro Se Defendant 22 23 Dated: November 7, 2022 /s/ Muhammed R. Saeed Muhammad R. Saeed, Trustee of the Faraz A. Saeed 24 2020 Family Trust Pro Se Defendant 25 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 ATTESTATION 2 I attest that the original signature of the person(s) whose electronic signature is shown 3 above is maintained by me, and that their concurrence in the filing of this document and attribution of their signature was obtained. 4 /s/ Tanya E. Moore Tanya E. Moore 5 Attorney for Plaintiff, 6 Darren Gilbert 7 ORDER 8 9 The court has reviewed the parties’ stipulation, and though there exists an issue needing 10 resolution, ultimately good cause exists to lift the entry of default against defendant Petro Star Oil 11 Co. However, this good cause is found not on the basis of the parties’ stipulation, but on a 12 finding that plaintiff accedes to lifting the default so that the parties can proceed on the merits. 13 The reason the court makes this finding is because it appears defendants Faraz Saeed and 14 Muhammud Saeed have attempted to stipulate on behalf of their company, Petro Star Oil Co. 15 However, the rules are clear that a business entity may appear only by an attorney, and the Saeed 16 defendants have thus far appeared without counsel. See Local Rule 183(a). Unlicensed 17 laypersons, including the owners of companies, officers of a corporation, partners of a 18 partnership, and members of an association may not represent their entities “pro se.” Rowland v. 19 California Men's Colony, Unit II Men's Advisory Council, 506 U.S. 194, 201-02 (1993) (“It has 20 been the law for the better part of two centuries . . . that a corporation may appear in the federal 21 courts only through licensed counsel . . . . [T]hat rule applies equally to all artificial entities.”); 22 United States v. High Country Broadcasting Co., Inc., 3 F.3d 1244, 1245 (9th Cir. 1993) (accord). 23 Moving forward, Petro Star will require the services of an attorney in order to proceed with its 24 defense in this case. 25 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: 26 1. The default entered against Defendant Petro Star Oil Co. on July 26, 2022 27 (ECF No. 11) is hereby SET ASIDE; 28 2. The stay in this case (ECF No. 21) is LIFTED; and 1 3. Defendant Petro Star Oil Co.—represented by an attorney—shall file an answer 2 to Plaintiff's complaint within 21 days of this order. 3 || Dated: November 18, 2022 Arse A Abar KENDALL J.NE 6 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 7 || gilb.1015 9 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Dd... A