Securities and Exchange Commission v. Reifler ( 2023 )

1 2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 4 * * * 5 Securities and Exchange Commission, Case No. 2:20-cv-00511-CDS-DJA 6 Plaintiff, 7 Order v. 8 Bradley C. Reifler, 9 Defendant, 10 and 11 Forefront Partners, LLC; Forefront Capital 12 Services, LLC; and Port Royal-NCM, LLC, 13 Relief Defendants. 14 15 Stephen G. Topetzes, Esq.; Theodore L. Kornobis, Esq.; and Stavroula E. 16 Lambrakopoulos of the law firm K&L Gates LLP and Robert J. Cassity, Esq. and Sydney R. 17 Gambee, Esq. of the law firm Holland & Hart LLP jointly move to withdraw their representation 18 of Defendant Bradley C. Reifler and Relief Defendants Forefront Partners, LLC; Forefront 19 Capital Services, LLC; and Port Royal-NCM, LLC. (ECF No. 47). Counsel has also filed a 20 supplement to their motion to withdraw, explaining that the Relief Defendants no longer have any 21 operating business and have vacated any known last-used business address. (ECF No. 53 at 2). 22 As a result, the only known point of contact for each of the Relief Defendants is Defendant 23 Bradley Reifler, who is currently incarcerated. Under Local Rule IA 11-6(b) counsel served a 24 copy of the joint motion to Mr. Reifler. No party has responded to the motion to withdraw, 25 constituting their consent to the Court granting it under Local Rule 7-2(d). 26 The Court finds that counsel has met the requirements of Local Rule IA 11-6(b). It thus 27 grants the motion. Because they are corporations, Forefront Partners, LLC; Forefront Capital 1 Inc. v. Malulani Group, Ltd., 814 F.3d 1046, 1053 (9th Cir. 2016) (explaining that corporations 2 must be represented by counsel); In re Bigelow, 179 F.3d 1164, 1165 (9th Cir. 1999) (“[t]he law 3 is clear that a corporation can be represented only by a licensed attorney”). The Court will thus 4 require the Relief Defendants to file a joint status report regarding their retention of counsel. It 5 will also require Mr. Reifler to file a notice indicating whether he will retain counsel or proceed 6 pro se. 7 8 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that counsel’s motion to withdraw (ECF No. 47) is 9 granted. 10 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Bradley C. Reifler must file a notice with the Court 11 on or before June 5, 2023 indicating whether he will retain counsel or proceed pro se. 12 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Forefront Partners, LLC; Forefront Capital Services, 13 LLC; and Port Royal-NCM, LLC must file a status report regarding their retention of counsel on 14 or before June 5, 2023. 15 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of Court is kindly directed to place Bradley 16 Reifler; Forefront Partners, LLC; Forefront Capital Services, LLC; and Port Royal-NCM, LLC’s 17 last known addresses on the docket: 18 19 Bradley Carl Reifler – Register No. 20251-509 FCI Otisville 20 Federal Correctional Institution Satellite Camp 21 P.O. Box 1000 Otisville, NY 10963 22 23 Forefront Partners, LLC Attn: Bradley Carl Reifler – Register No. 20251-509 24 FCI Otisville Federal Correctional Institution 25 Satellite Camp P.O. Box 1000 26 Otisville, NY 10963 27 Forefront Capital Services, LLC FCI Otisville 1 Federal Correctional Institution 2 Satellite Camp P.O. Box 1000 3 Otisville, NY 10963 4 Port Royal-NMC, LLC Attn: Bradley Carl Reifler – Register No. 20251-509 5 FCI Otisville 6 Federal Correctional Institution Satellite Camp 7 P.O. Box 1000 Otisville, NY 10963 8 9 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of Court is kindly directed to mail a copy of 10 this order to Bradley Reifler; Forefront Partners, LLC; Forefront Capital Services, LLC; and Port 11 Royal-NCM, LLC at the addresses listed above. 12 13 DATED: May 5, 2023 14 DANIEL J. ALBREGTS 15 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27