Wilson & Wilson Holdings LLC v. DTH, LLC

Background

Plaintiff’s counsel—Joseph Kohn, John Remington, Gabriela Timis, and Kirti Reddy of Quarles & Brady LLP—moved to withdraw on May 19, 2023. Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron directed the plaintiff to respond by June 21 and warned that an LLC cannot appear in federal court without counsel. The court also warned that the case could be dismissed if the lawyers withdrew and no replacement counsel appeared.

On June 23, 2023, Magistrate Judge Aaron granted the motion to withdraw because the court had not received a response from the plaintiff. The court ordered the plaintiff to obtain new counsel within 30 days, by July 24, 2023, and repeated that an LLC could not proceed without a lawyer. The deadline passed without successor counsel appearing, and the plaintiff did not file a letter or otherwise communicate with the court about retaining counsel.

Ruling

The court explained that an LLC must be represented by counsel in federal court. It held that dismissal was appropriate because the plaintiff had been repeatedly warned and still failed to appear through counsel. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), a court may dismiss an action when a plaintiff fails to prosecute or comply with court rules or orders. Judge Clarke dismissed the action without prejudice under Rule 41(b). The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate all pending motions and close the case.