Henry v. Central Freight Lines, Inc. ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 | Rickey Henry, No. 2:16-cv-00280-KJM-JDP 12 Plaintiffs, ORDER 13 Vv. 14 Central Freight Lines, Inc., et al., 1S Defendants. 16 17 Counsel for defendant Central Freight Lines, Inc. has withdrawn, and the company has not 18 | obtained substitute counsel. See Mot. Withdraw, ECF No. 130; Min. Order, ECF No. 132. “It is 19 | a longstanding rule that ‘[c]orporations and other unincorporated associations must appear in 20 | court through an attorney.’” D—Beam Ltd. Partnership v. Roller Derby Skates, Inc., 366 F.3d 21 | 972, 973-74 (9th Cir. 2004) (quoting Licht v. Am. W. Airlines In re Am. W. Airlines), 40 F.3d 22 | 1058, 1059 (9th Cir. 1994)). This District’s Local Rules enforce that bar. See E.D. Cal. L.R. 23 | 183(a). When a corporation does not appear by counsel, its answer may be stricken. See Emp. 24 | Painters’ Tr. v. Ethan Enters., Inc., 480 F.3d 993 (9th Cir. 2007). The unopposed motion to 25 | strike Central Freight Lines’ answer (ECF No. 140) is thus granted, and the clerk’s office is 26 | instructed to enter default against Central Freight Lines. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a). ] The status (pretrial scheduling) conference currently set for September 22, 2022 is 2 | vacated. Plaintiff is directed to file a status report within fourteen days, proposing a schedule 3 | for adjudicating this putative class action. Cf Cortes v. Nat’l Credit Adjusters, L.L.C., 4 | No. 16-00823, 2017 WL 3284797, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 2, 2017) (“[E]ntry of default does not 5 | alter the Court’s analysis for class certification.” (quoting Whitaker v. Bennett L., PLLC, 6 | No. 13-3145, 2014 WL 5454398, at *3 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 27, 2014)). 7 IT IS SO ORDERED. 8 DATED: July 8, 2022. [ (] 9 ( ti / { q_/ CHIEF NT] ED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 45