Creative Entertainment Services & Management Group v. Robert Stark Lighting
Creative Entertainment Services & Management Group, LLC v. Robert Stark Lighting, LLC
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:22-cv-10773
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Creative Entertainment Services v. Robert Stark Lighting, Judge Abrams required efforts to obtain counsel for the defendant LLC and postponed the initial conference.
Robert Stark Lighting, LLC and its principal, Jeremy Shepard, because the LLC could not proceed through Shepard without a licensed attorney. Both parties were required to participate in a joint letter about efforts to retain counsel and their availability for a telephone conference.
What happened
Creative Entertainment Services & Management Group, LLC v. Robert Stark Lighting, LLC concerns whether the defendant limited liability company could proceed in federal court through its principal, Jeremy Shepard, without a licensed attorney. The court said it could not.
The court attached information about a New York Legal Assistance Group clinic and gave the defendant time to seek help retaining counsel. It also directed the parties to file a joint letter by April 20, 2023, describing efforts to retain counsel and proposing times for a telephone conference.
Judge Ronnie Abrams entered this procedural order and postponed the initial pretrial conference. The order did not decide the parties’ underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Creative Entertainment Services & Management Group v. Robert Stark Lighting · No. 1:22-cv-10773
- Ronnie Abrams
- Apr. 7, 2023
Background
The court held a telephone initial pretrial conference on March 3, 2023. It observed that Robert Stark Lighting, LLC, as a limited liability company, could not appear in federal court through its principal, Jeremy Shepard, without a licensed attorney. The court cited Second Circuit precedent stating that a limited liability company may appear in federal court only through a licensed attorney.
Court’s Action
The court attached information about the New York Legal Assistance Group’s legal-assistance clinic so that Shepard could seek assistance in retaining counsel for the business. It stated that the initial pretrial conference would be postponed to allow time for the defendant to do so. The court ordered the parties to file a joint letter by April 20, 2023, describing the defendant’s efforts to retain counsel and proposing their availability for a telephone conference.
Result
Judge Ronnie Abrams entered the order on April 7, 2023. This order addressed the defendant’s representation and scheduling; it did not decide the underlying claims in the case.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.