Kumaran v. ADM Investor Services, Inc.

What the order addressed

Attorney David Kostus moved to withdraw as counsel for Nefertiti Risk Capital Management, LLC, Nefertiti Holding Company, and Nefertiti Asset Management, LLC, which the opinion collectively calls the “Corporate Plaintiffs.” The court stated that its reasons were given on the record at a June 17, 2022 conference.

Rulings

The court granted Kostus’s motion to withdraw. It explained that corporate entities must appear in court through counsel, so the Corporate Plaintiffs must retain an attorney if they wish to continue prosecuting the case.

The case was stayed through July 18, 2022 to allow the Corporate Plaintiffs to retain replacement counsel. New counsel was required to file a notice of appearance by July 18, 2022. The court stated that if no attorney appeared by that date, it might dismiss the Corporate Plaintiffs’ claims for failure to prosecute. If replacement counsel appeared sooner, the stay would be lifted when that counsel filed a notice of appearance.

The court also noted that prior submissions filed on behalf of the Corporate Plaintiffs had been wholly drafted by Samantha Siva Kumaran rather than by counsel, and stated that it expected this would not happen again with new counsel.

Because the court granted Kostus’s withdrawal motion and stayed the case, it denied as moot Kumaran’s motion for an emergency stay concerning concerns about Kostus’s representation. The clerk was directed to terminate the motions at Dkt. Nos. 165 and 173 and remove Kostus from the docket’s list of counsel.

Effect of the order

This order addressed counsel, the temporary stay, and docket administration. It did not decide the underlying claims against ADM Investor Services, Inc.