Ahern Rentals, Inc. v. King ( 2024 )

1 PATRICK H. HICKS, ESQ. Bar No. 4632 2 LUKE W. MOLLECK, ESQ. Bar No. 14405 3 LITTLER MENDELSON P.C. 3960 Howard Hughes Parkway 4 Suite 300 Las Vegas, Nevada 89169.5937 5 Telephone: 702.862.8800 Fax No.: 702.862.8811 6 Email: phicks@littler.com lmolleck@littler.com 7 8 Attorneys for Plaintiff AHERN RENTALS, INC. 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 12 AHERN RENTALS, INC., Case No. 2:22-cv-01589-RFB-DJA 13 Plaintiff, LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C.’S MOTION 14 vs. TO WITHDRAW AS COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF 15 JERRY KING, 16 Defendant. 17 18 Pursuant of Local Rule IA 11-6(b) and Rule 1.16 of the Nevada Rules of Professional 19 Conduct, Patrick H. Hicks, Esq., and Luke W. Molleck, Esq., with the law firm Littler Mendelson, 20 P.C., hereby move this Court for an Order allowing them to withdraw as counsel of record for 21 Plaintiff, Ahern Rentals, Inc. (“Ahern”). 22 MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES 23 I. INTRODUCTION 24 Littler Mendelson, P.C., and attorneys of record, Patrick H. Hicks, Esq. and Luke W. 25 Molleck, Esq., should be permitted to withdraw as counsel for Ahern. On May 10, 2024, Ahern filed 26 a Substitution of Counsel (the “Substitution”), stipulating that the law firm Weinberg, Wheeler, 27 Hudgins, Gunn & Dial, LLC replace Littler Mendelson, P.C. as Ahern’s counsel of record in this 28 1 action. ECF No. 14. Ahern continues to be represented by Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & 2 Dial, LLC. Id. Thus, the withdrawal of Littler Mendelson, P.C. (along with Mr. Hicks and Mr. 3 Molleck) will not result in delay to any proceedings nor any prejudice to Ahern. All requirements for 4 withdrawal of Littler Mendelson, P.C. are satisfied. The Motion should be granted. 5 II. LEGAL STANDARDS 6 District of Nevada Local Rule LR IA 11-6 governs attorney appearances, substitutions, and 7 withdrawals and states in relevant part: 8 LR IA 11-6. APPEARANCES, SUBSTITUTIONS, AND WITHDRAWALS … 9 (b) If an attorney seeks to withdraw after appearing in a case, the attorney must file a motion or stipulation and serve it on the affected client and opposing counsel. The 10 affected client may, but is not required to, file a response to the attorney’s motion within 14 days of the filing of the motion, unless the court orders otherwise. 11 … (d) Discharge, withdrawal, or substitution of an attorney will not alone be reason for 12 delay of pretrial proceedings, discovery, the trial, or any hearing in the case. 13 (e) Except for good cause shown, no withdrawal or substitution will be approved if it will result in delay of discovery, the trial, or any hearing in the case. Where delay 14 would result, the papers seeking leave of the court for the withdrawal or substitution must request specific relief from the scheduled discovery, trial, or hearing. If a trial 15 setting has been made, an additional copy of the moving papers must be provided to the clerk for immediate delivery to the assigned district judge, bankruptcy judge, or 16 magistrate judge. 17 See LR IA 11-6. 18 In addition to the Local Rule IA 11-6, Rule 1.16(b) of the Nevada Rules of Professional 19 Conduct discusses termination of representation and states in relevant part: 20 Rule 1.16. Declining or Terminating Representation. 21 (b) Except as stated in paragraph (c), a lawyer may withdraw from representing a client if: 22 (1) Withdrawal can be accomplished without material adverse effect on the 23 interests of the client; … 24 (5) The client fails substantially to fulfill an obligation to the lawyer regarding the lawyer’s services and has been given reasonable warning that 25 the lawyer will withdraw unless the obligation is fulfilled; 26 (6) The representation will result in an unreasonable financial burden on the lawyer or has been rendered unreasonably difficult by the client; or 27 (7) Other good cause for withdrawal exists. 28 1 (c) A lawyer must comply with applicable law requiring notice to or permission of a tribunal when terminating representation. When ordered to do so by a tribunal, a 2 lawyer shall continue representation notwithstanding good cause for terminating the representation. 3 (d) Upon termination of representation, a lawyer shall take steps to the extent 4 reasonably practicable to protect a client’s interests, such as giving reasonable notice to the client, allowing time for employment of other counsel, surrendering papers and 5 property to which the client is entitled and refunding any advance payment of fee or expense that has not been earned or incurred. The lawyer may retain papers relating 6 to the client to the extent permitted by other law. 7 Rule 1.16(b) of the Nevada Rules of Professional Conduct. 8 III. THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR WITHDRAWAL ARE SATISFIED 9 As noted above, Ahern filed its Substitution of Counsel on May 10, 2024. ECF No. 14. Per 10 the Substitution, Ahern replaced Littler Mendelson, P.C. (and Mr. Hicks and Mr. Molleck) with D. 11 Lee Roberts, Esq., Trisha R. Delos Santos, Esq., and Aaron S. Motschenbacher, Esq., all of the law 12 firm Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial, LLC, as Ahern’s counsel of record in this matter. 13 Id. Thus, Ahern continues to be fully represented by its new counsel in this action. Ahern has been 14 given notice of Littler Mendelson, P.C.’s withdrawal from this matter and has consented to the same. 15 Id. 16 Given the Substitution and procedural posture of this case, withdrawal of Littler Mendelson, 17 P.C. will not delay any proceedings in the action nor result in any prejudice to Ahern. The 18 requirements of Local Rule IA 11-6 and Rule 1.16(b) of the Nevada Rules of Professional Conduct 19 are satisfied. The Motion should therefore be granted. See also, Hillcrest Investments Ltd. v. 20 American Borate Company, No. 2:21-cv-00964-RFB-NJK, 2024 WL 1345060 (D. Nev. Mar. 28, 21 2024) (discussing Local Rule IA 11-6 and requirements for withdrawal). 22 / / / 23 24 / / / 25 26 / / / 27 28 / / / 1 | IV. CONCLUSION 2 Littler Mendelson, P.C. respectfully requests that the Court grant the instant Motion and 3 || permit it and any of its attorneys that have appeared in this matter (including Mr. Hicks and Mr. 4 | Molleck) to withdraw at the present stage and cease further representation of Ahern in this matter. 5 || Dated: July 23, 2024 6 Respectfully submitted, 7 8 /s/ Patrick H. Hicks PATRICK H. HICKS, ESQ. 9 LUKE W. MOLLECK, ESQ. 10 LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. Attorneys for Plaintiff AHERN RENTALS, INC. 12 13 IT IS ORDERED that the motion to withdraw by Patrick H. Hicks, Esq. and Luke W. 14 Molleck, Esq. of the law firm Littler Mendelson P.C. (ECF No. 16) is GRANTED. 15 ) 16 > XX) V7 DANIEL J. ALBREGTS. |, 18 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 DATED: July 24, 2024 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 PROOF OF SERVICE 2 I am a resident of the State of Nevada, over the age of eighteen years, and not a party to the 3 within action. My business address is 3960 Howard Hughes Parkway, Suite 300, Las Vegas, Nevada 4 89169. On July 23, 2024, I served the within document(s): 5 LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C.’S MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF 6 7 BY Email - by e-mailing a copy of the document(s) listed above to the person(s) at the e-  mail address(es) set forth below. 8 Jerry King 9 2060 Attala Road Kosciusko, Mississippi 39090 10 truteam@rocketmail.com 11 I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on July 23, 12 2024, at Las Vegas, Nevada. 13 14 /s/ Joanne Conti Joanne Conti 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28