Bisnow LLC v. Lopez-Pierre
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:20-cv-03441-PAE-SLC
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Bisnow v. Lopez-Pierre, Judge Engelmayer denied counsel’s withdrawal and stay motions but extended the objections deadline to November 30.
Bisnow LLC, its existing counsel, and any successor counsel were affected by the ruling. Bisnow received additional time to object to the report and recommendation, while its existing counsel could not withdraw until successor counsel appeared.
What happened
Bisnow LLC’s lawyers asked the court to let them withdraw and to pause the deadline for Bisnow to object to a report recommending dismissal of its Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act claim and state-law claims.
The court explained that a corporation may appear in court only through a lawyer. It therefore said counsel could withdraw only after replacement counsel appeared.
In Bisnow LLC v. Thomas Lopez-Pierre, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer denied both motions but extended the objection deadline to November 30, 2022. The court said it would not extend that deadline again and ordered counsel to serve the order on Bisnow and file proof of service.
The detailed version
- Bisnow LLC v. Lopez-Pierre · No. 1:20-cv-03441-PAE-SLC
- Paul Engelmayer
- Nov. 10, 2022
Background
Bisnow LLC’s counsel asked for permission to withdraw from the case and requested a stay of the deadline for Bisnow to object to a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation. The report recommended dismissing Bisnow’s claim under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, awarding no damages, and dismissing the state-law claims without prejudice. The objection deadline was November 16, 2022.
The request to pause the deadline was made while the motion to withdraw was pending. The opinion states that defendant Thomas Lopez-Pierre had failed to appear in the action.
Ruling
The court denied the motion for withdrawal and the motion to stay. It explained that a corporation can appear in court only through counsel and cannot represent itself without a lawyer. The court therefore permitted Bisnow’s counsel to withdraw only when successor counsel appeared.
To give Bisnow time to obtain new counsel, the court extended the deadline for objections to the report and recommendation to November 30, 2022. The court stated that the deadline would not be extended further. If successor counsel had not appeared and no objections had been filed by then, the court would treat the report as unobjected to and promptly review it.
The court also directed Bisnow’s counsel to serve the order on Bisnow immediately and file an affirmation on the docket confirming service.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.