EMA Financial, LLC v. Pharmagreen Biotech Inc.
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:20-cv-05662
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In EMA Financial v. Pharmagreen, Judge Schofield lifted a stay, extended Pharmagreen’s counsel deadline, and stayed the case until counsel appears.
Pharmagreen Biotech Inc. must obtain successor counsel by January 15, 2021, or face the possibility of default judgment; EMA Financial, LLC must serve the order and file proof of service. The action is stayed until successor counsel appears.
What happened
EMA Financial, LLC v. Pharmagreen Biotech Inc. concerned defense counsel’s withdrawal and Pharmagreen’s need to retain new counsel. The order did not address the parties’ underlying dispute.
The court ended the stay on the order allowing defense counsel to withdraw, extended the deadline for new counsel to appear to January 15, 2021, and stayed the action until successor counsel appeared. The court warned that a corporation may not appear without counsel and that failing to retain counsel could lead to default judgment. Plaintiff also had to send the order to Defendant by December 7, 2020, and file proof of service.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield ordered the Clerk to terminate The Basile Law Firm P.C. as counsel of record and to stay the action. The order also required Plaintiff to notify Defendant as directed.
The detailed version
- EMA Financial, LLC v. Pharmagreen Biotech Inc. · No. 1:20-cv-05662
- Lorna Schofield
- Dec. 3, 2020
Background
The order concerns the withdrawal of defense counsel in EMA Financial, LLC v. Pharmagreen Biotech Inc. It refers to an earlier order at Dkt. No. 35 granting defense counsel’s motion to withdraw, which had been stayed.
Rulings and deadlines
The court ordered that the effectiveness of the earlier withdrawal order was no longer stayed. It extended the deadline for Defendant’s new counsel to enter an appearance from December 17, 2020, to January 15, 2021. The action would remain stayed until successor counsel appeared.
The court advised that corporations may not appear without counsel. It stated that failure to retain counsel by January 15, 2021, could constitute grounds for entry of default judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55. The order did not enter default judgment.
The court also ordered Plaintiff to mail or email a copy of the order to Defendant by December 7, 2020, and to file proof of service. The Clerk was directed to terminate The Basile Law Firm P.C. as attorney of record and to stay the action.
Effect of the order
This was a case-management and representation order. It did not decide the merits of EMA Financial’s claims or Pharmagreen’s defenses.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.