Transition Technologies- Managed Services LLC v. Boyd
- Kandis Westmore
- 4:20-cv-02091
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Transition Technologies v. Boyd, Judge Westmore discharged a show-cause order and gave the plaintiff 30 days to dismiss voluntarily or have counsel seek withdrawal.
Transition Technologies- Managed Services LLC and its counsel; the order also concerns defendants M. Todd Boyd and Tacitwear, Inc.
What happened
In Transition Technologies- Managed Services LLC v. Boyd, the defendants had defaulted, but the plaintiff withdrew its motion seeking judgment based on that default and did not file a replacement motion. The court then ordered the plaintiff to explain why the case should not be dismissed for failing to move it forward.
The plaintiff’s lawyer said the company’s only Western United States office had closed, he could not obtain documents needed for a new motion, he believed the company might no longer be doing business in the United States, and he believed one defendant was a defunct entity and the other was likely unable to pay a judgment. He asked for 30 more days to dismiss the case or seek permission to withdraw.
Judge Westmore discharged the third show-cause order and ordered the plaintiff to file a voluntary dismissal within 30 days or have its lawyer file a withdrawal motion. The court said there would be no further extensions and warned that failing to meet the deadline could lead to reassignment and a recommendation that the case be dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute.
The detailed version
- Transition Technologies- Managed Services LLC v. Boyd · No. 4:20-cv-02091
- Kandis Westmore
- Nov. 9, 2023
Background
The Clerk entered default against M. Todd Boyd and Tacitwear, Inc. on March 23, 2022. Transition Technologies- Managed Services LLC later told the court that it expected to seek a default judgment. The court continued a case-management conference and set deadlines for that motion.
After the plaintiff missed an initial deadline, the court issued a second order to show cause—an order requiring a party to explain why the case should not be dismissed or other action should not be taken. The plaintiff responded, received a new deadline, and filed a motion for default judgment, but withdrew that motion on February 28, 2023. It did not file a renewed motion.
The court issued a third order to show cause on August 22, 2023, directing the plaintiff to respond and either file a renewed default-judgment motion or take another specified step. Plaintiff’s counsel responded that the company’s sole office in the Western United States had closed and that counsel could not obtain the supporting documents needed for a default-judgment motion. Counsel also represented that he believed the plaintiff was no longer doing business in the United States, that Tacitwear, Inc. was defunct, and that M. Todd Boyd was likely judgment proof. Counsel requested 30 additional days to file a dismissal or a motion to withdraw.
Ruling
Judge Kandis Westmore discharged the third order to show cause. Within 30 days, the plaintiff was ordered to file a voluntary dismissal, or its counsel was ordered to file a motion to withdraw. The court stated that there would be no further extensions under any circumstances.
The court warned that failure to meet the deadline would result in reassignment to a district judge with a recommendation that the case be dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute. The court also ordered plaintiff’s counsel to provide the order to the plaintiff and advised that a corporate entity must appear in federal court through a licensed attorney. The court further stated that if current counsel successfully withdrew and new counsel did not appear, the case would be subject to dismissal without prejudice.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.