Boards of Trustees of the Seattle Area Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry Health & Welfare Trust v. JP Francis & Associates Inc

• Court: District Court, W.D. Washington
• Decided: February 14, 2023
• Docket: 2:21-cv-01040
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

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4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 BOARDS OF TRUSTEES OF THE CASE NO. 2:21-cv-01040-JHC 8 SEATTLE AREA PLUMBING & PIPEFITTING INDUSTRY HEALTH & ORDER 9 WELFARE TRUST, et al., 10 Plaintiffs, 11 v. 12 J.P. FRANCIS & ASSOCIATES, INC., 13 Defendant. 14 I 15 INTRODUCTION 16 Before the Court are: (1) a motion requesting that Mr. Jimmy Garg be permitted to 17 withdraw as counsel for Defendant J.P. Francis & Associates, Inc., Dkt. # 18; and (2) Plaintiffs 18 Boards of Trustees of the Seattle Area Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry Health & Welfare Trust, 19 International Training Fund, Plumbers & Pipefitters National Pension Fund, Seattle Area 20 Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry Journeymen and Apprentice Training Trust, Washington State 21 Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry Pension Plan, and Western Washington U. A. Supplemental 22 Pension Plan’s (collectively, Plaintiffs) motion for summary judgment, Dkt. # 13. The Court has 23 considered the motions, their supporting papers, the balance of the record, and the applicable 24 1 law. Being fully advised, the Court GRANTS Mr. Garg’s motion to withdraw and STRIKES 2 Defendant’s motion for summary judgment. 3 II DISCUSSION 4 A. Motion to Withdraw 5 In this district, an attorney seeking to withdraw from a case in a manner that leaves a 6 party to the case unrepresented must seek leave from the Court by filing a motion. LCR 7 83.2(b)(1). 8 1. Procedural requirements 9 Mr. Garg has satisfied the procedural requirements for withdrawal. Under Local Civil 10 Rule 83.2(b)(1), a motion to withdraw must contain a certification that it was “served on the 11 client and opposing client,” and it must also provide the client’s “address and telephone 12 number.” LCR 83.2(b)(1). And if withdrawal will leave a business entity unrepresented, 13 counsel must certify that: 14 [H]e or she has advised the business entity that it is required by law to be 15 represented by an attorney admitted to practice before this court and that failure to obtain a replacement attorney by the date the withdrawal is effective may result in 16 the dismissal of the business entity’s claims for failure to prosecute and/or entry of default against the business entity as to any claims of other parties. 17 LCR 83.2(b)(4). Mr. Garg has certified that his motion and its supporting papers were served on 18 Defendant and opposing counsel, and he provides the requisite contact information for his client. 19 Dkt. # 18 at 3–4. Mr. Garg also notified Defendant “that it is required by law to be represented 20 by an attorney admitted to practice before this court,” and that failure to obtain substitute counsel 21 may result in the entry of default against it. Id. at 2. 22

24 1 2. Merits of the motion 2 District courts may consider various factors when evaluating a motion to withdraw, 3 including: “(1) the reasons why withdrawal is sought; (2) the prejudice withdrawal may cause to

4 other litigants; (3) the harm withdrawal might cause to the administration of justice; and (4) the 5 degree to which withdrawal will delay the resolution of the case.” Bilbeisi v. Safeway, No. C22- 6 0876-JCC, 2023 WL 1778835, at *1 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 6, 2023) (internal citations omitted). 7 “[T]he trial court retains wide discretion in a civil case to grant or deny [a] motion to withdraw.” 8 Curtis v. Illumination Arts, Inc., No. C12-0991JLR, 2014 WL 556010, at *4 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 9 12, 2014) (quoting Bohnert v. Burke, No. CV–08–2303–PHX–LOA, 2010 WL 5067695, at *1 10 (D. Ariz. Dec. 7, 2010)) (alterations in original). 11 Mr. Garg says that he has good cause for withdrawing from representing Defendant 12 because of a breakdown in communication. See Dkt. # 18-1 at 2 (“There have been times when I

13 would not hear back for multiple months and there has been a complete failure to . . . keep me 14 updated on relevant issues I inquired about, even after multiple reminders.”). Mr. Garg contends 15 that because of his client’s lack of communication, he has “neither been able to conclude 16 settlement negotiations, conduct effective motion practice, or develop an effective trial defense.” 17 Dkt. # 18 at 2. After Plaintiffs moved for summary judgment, Mr. Garg cautioned that he would 18 seek to withdraw if his client failed to provide certain necessary information for Mr. Garg to 19 prepare a response. Dkt. # 18-1 at 2. As of the date of Mr. Garg’s motion, January 31, 2023, he 20 had not received the requested information from Defendant to respond to Plaintiffs’ motion. Id. 21 According to Mr. Garg, his client has also “not honored the payment plan established.” Dkt. # 22 18 at 2. Mr. Garg has shown good cause for withdrawing.

23 As for prejudice and delay, withdrawal should not unduly prejudice the parties or delay 24 the case because the discovery cut off is set for May 22, 2023, and trial is set for September 18, 1 2023. Dkt. # 11. See LCR 83.2(b)(1) (“The attorney will ordinarily be permitted to withdraw 2 until sixty days before the discovery cutoff date in a civil case. . . .”). While Plaintiffs’ motion 3 for summary judgment is noted for February 17, 2023, the Court granted Mr. Garg’s motion

4 requesting relief from the deadline for responding, pending resolution of this motion to 5 withdraw. Dkt. # 22. And the Court will give Defendant 14 days from the date of this order to 6 have substitute counsel appear for it in this matter. 7 B. Motion for Summary Judgment 8 Plaintiffs filed their summary judgment motion and supporting papers; a response has not 9 been filed. In their motion, Plaintiffs contend that J.P. Francis is liable for $184,190.83 in unpaid 10 “fringe benefit contributions,” $5,842.50 in attorney fees, and $521.00 in litigation costs. Dkt. # 11 13 at 2, 17. Given the circumstances presented here, the Court believes that it is in the interest of 12 justice to give Defendant an additional opportunity to obtain new counsel before addressing a

13 motion on the merits of the case. 14 III CONCLUSION 15 In light of the foregoing, the Court GRANTS the motion to withdraw. Dkt. # 18. The 16 Court STRIKES the summary judgment motion. Dkt. # 13. The Court GRANTS Defendant 14 17 days from the date of this order to have substitute counsel appear for it in this matter. The Court 18 warns Defendant that if such counsel does not timely appear, the Court may enter default against 19 it. If substitute counsel timely appears, Plaintiffs may re-file their motion for summary 20 judgment. If substitute counsel does not timely appear within 14 days, Plaintiffs may move for 21 entry of default. 22

23 24 l Dated this 14th day of February, 2023. ok M Chan 3 John H. Chun United States District Judge 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24