Content IQ, LLC
- Clarke
- 1:22-cv-07891
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Content IQ v. Earth.com, Judge Clarke ordered Content IQ to move for default judgment after Earth.com failed to obtain new counsel.
Content IQ, LLC must file a motion for default judgment by April 19, 2024. Earth.com, Inc. remains without counsel, and the court warned that failure to file the motion could lead to dismissal for failure to prosecute.
What happened
In Content IQ, LLC v. Earth.com, Inc., attorney Jason Mischel withdrew from representing Earth.com, and the court’s stay giving Earth.com time to find new counsel expired on March 22, 2024. No new lawyer appeared.
The court explained that a corporation cannot represent itself in federal court and must appear through a lawyer. Earth.com therefore remained without proper representation.
Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke ordered Content IQ to file a motion for default judgment by April 19, 2024. The court did not itself enter a default judgment and warned that failing to file the motion on time could lead to dismissal for failure to prosecute.
The detailed version
- Content IQ, LLC · No. 1:22-cv-07891
- Clarke
- Apr. 4, 2024
Background
On January 8, 2024, the court granted attorney Jason Mischel’s motion to withdraw as counsel for Defendant Earth.com, Inc. The court stayed the case to allow Earth.com to find new counsel. That stay expired on March 22, 2024, but the deadline passed without new counsel appearing for Earth.com.
Court’s reasoning
The court stated that a corporation may appear in federal court only through a lawyer. It relied on precedent explaining that a corporation, as an artificial entity that acts through agents, cannot proceed without counsel.
Order
Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke ordered Plaintiff Content IQ, LLC to file a motion for default judgment under the court’s Individual Rules and Local Rule 55 by April 19, 2024. A default judgment is a judgment that may be entered against a party that fails to defend the case. The court did not grant default judgment in this order. It warned that Content IQ’s failure to timely file the motion may result in dismissal for failure to prosecute, meaning failure to move the case forward.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.