Karpe v. Chao ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 KEVIN KARPE, Case No.: 18-cv-2521-DMS-NLS 10 Plaintiff, ORDER (1) GRANTING IN PART 11 v. THE PARTIES’ JOINT MOTION TO VACATE PRETRIAL DEADLINES, 12 PETER P.M. BUTTIGIEG, Secretary, (2) DENYING PLAINTIFF’S and DEPARTMENT OF 13 COUNSEL’S MOTION TO TRANSPORTATION (FAA), WITHDRAW, AND (3) SETTING AN 14 Defendants. AMENDED BRIEFING SCHEDULE 15 16 Pending before the Court is Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and to 17 Strike. (ECF No. 35.) Plaintiff failed to file a brief in opposition to Defendant’s motion. 18 Defendant filed a reply in support of the unopposed motion. (ECF No. 37.) Also pending 19 before the Court is Plaintiff’s counsel’s Motion to Withdraw without Substitution. (ECF 20 No. 39.) 21 The Court held a telephonic status conference on the present matter on May 14, 22 2021. (See ECF No. 39.) One week later, on May 21, 2021, the parties filed a joint status 23 update informing the Court that the parties were unable to find agreement on the issue of 24 whether to re-open summary judgment briefing in this case. (ECF No. 40.) On the same 25 day, the parties also filed a joint motion to vacate the pretrial deadlines set in the Court’s 26 scheduling order. (ECF No. 40.) 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 First, the Court grants in part the parties’ joint motion to vacate, and hereby vacates 2 all pretrial deadlines except the June 14, 2021 mandatory scheduling conference, which 3 will occur as scheduled. 4 Second, the Court denies without prejudice Plaintiff’s counsel’s Motion to 5 Withdraw without Substitution. “An attorney may not withdraw as counsel except by leave 6 of court.” Darby v. City of Torrance, 810 F. Supp. 275, 276 (C.D. Cal. 1992). A district 7 court has discretion whether to grant or deny an attorney’s motion to withdraw in a civil 8 case. See La Grand v. Stewart, 133 F.3d 1253, 1269 (9th Cir. 1998); Stewart v. Boeing 9 Co., No. CV 12-5621 RSWL(AGRx), 2013 WL 3168269, at *1 (C.D. Cal. June 19, 2013). 10 Courts should consider the following factors when ruling upon a motion to withdraw as 11 counsel: (1) the reasons why withdrawal is sought; (2) the prejudice withdrawal may cause 12 to other litigants; (3) the harm withdrawal might cause to the administration of justice; and 13 (4) the degree to which withdrawal will delay the resolution of the case. Metzger v. Imedex, 14 Inc., 3:15-cv-1919-GPC(KSC), 2016 WL 5786945, at * (S.D. Cal. Oct. 4, 2016) (citations 15 omitted). 16 Here, Plaintiff’s counsel seeks to withdraw because she accepted a job that does not 17 allow her to litigate cases outside the scope of that new employment. (ECF No. 37.) 18 However, Defendant recently filed a motion for summary judgment in this case. (See ECF 19 No. 35.) Plaintiff’s counsel admits that Plaintiff is unable to obtain alternate counsel to 20 represent him in this matter. (ECF No. 37.) If the Court allows counsel to withdraw, 21 Plaintiff will be deprived legal representation in opposing Defendant’s motion. 22 Furthermore, the Court would be forced to decide the motion without the benefit of full 23 briefing on the relevant issues. Considering these facts, the Court denies Plaintiff’s 24 counsel’s motion. 25 Third, the Court orders further briefing on Defendant’s Motion for Summary 26 Judgment. It is well established that district courts have “inherent power” to control their 27 dockets. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry. v. Hercules, Inc., 146 F.3d 1071, 1074 (9th 28 Cir.1998) (quoting Hernandez v. City of El Monte, 138 F.3d 393, 398 (9th Cir.1998)); see 1 Southern California Edison Co. v. Lynch, 307 F. 794, 807 (9th Cir. 2002) (citing 2 || Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 1260 (9th Cir.1992)). As such, the Court orders that 3 || Plaintiff’s counsel shall file a response in opposition to Defendant’s motion on or before 4 || June 7, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. Defendant may file a reply on or before June 14, 2021 at 5:00 5 || p.m. 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. 1 | Dated: May 24, 2021 ins WM. L4\ 8 Hon. Dana M. Sabraw 9 United States Chief District Judge 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28