Nuno Carrera v. DT Hospitality Group Inc.
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:19-cv-04235
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Carrera v. DT Hospitality, Judge Abrams ordered Truong to obtain separate counsel for the corporation or face a possible default motion.
DT Hospitality Group Inc. was required to obtain separate counsel or have Truong report that it had done so. Kien Truong was ordered to provide that information by December 23, 2019. The plaintiffs were permitted to move for a default against DT Hospitality Group Inc. if Truong failed to comply.
What happened
Patricio Nuno Carrera and Geraldo Marquez sued DT Hospitality Group Inc. and Kien Truong. The court had twice ordered Truong to tell it whether the corporation had obtained separate legal counsel, but he had not done so.
Judge Abrams explained that Truong could represent himself individually, but a corporation must appear through a lawyer. The order gave Truong until December 23, 2019, to report whether DT Hospitality had obtained separate counsel.
Judge Ronnie Abrams did not decide the underlying lawsuit. She stated that if Truong failed to comply, the plaintiffs could ask for a default against DT Hospitality Group Inc., and directed the Clerk to mail the order to the defendants.
The detailed version
- Nuno Carrera v. DT Hospitality Group Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-04235
- Ronnie Abrams
- Dec. 4, 2019
Background
The plaintiffs are Patricio Nuno Carrera and Geraldo Marquez, who sued DT Hospitality Group Inc., doing business as Co Ba Restaurant, and Kien Truong. The opinion does not decide the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims.
On August 6, 2019, the court ordered Truong to tell the court by September 6 whether he had obtained separate counsel for DT Hospitality Group Inc. Truong did not do so. On September 17, 2019, the court issued another order requiring that information by October 16. As of December 4, 2019, Truong still had not provided it.
Court’s ruling
Judge Ronnie Abrams reminded Truong that he could choose to proceed individually without a lawyer, but that a corporation cannot appear in a civil lawsuit except through an attorney. The court ordered Truong to inform it by December 23, 2019, whether DT Hospitality Group Inc. had obtained separate counsel.
The court stated that if Truong failed to comply, the plaintiffs could move for a default against DT Hospitality Group Inc. A default is a judgment or other relief that may be sought because a party has failed to defend the case, but this order did not enter a default. The court also directed the Clerk to mail the order to the defendants and provided information about a legal clinic for people involved in civil cases without lawyers.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.