Greentree Financial Group, Inc. v. Chijet Motor Company, Inc.

• Court: District Court, S.D. New York
• Decided: March 26, 2025
• Docket: 1:24-cv-06415
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

ELECTRONICALLY FILED UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DOC #: SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DATE FILED: 3/26/2 025 --------------------------------------------------------------- X GREENTREE FINANCIAL GROUP, INC., : : Plaintiff, : : ORDER -against- : : CHIJET MOTOR COMPANY, INC., and : EQUINITI TRUST COMPANY, LLC, f/k/a : 24-CV-6415 (VEC) AMERICAN STOCK TRANSFER & TRUST : COMPANY, LLC, : : Defendants. : -------------------------------------------------------------- X CHIJET MOTOR COMPANY, INC., : : Counterclaim Plaintiff, : : -against- : : GREENTREE FINANCIAL GROUP, INC., and : WEIHENG CAI, an Individual, : : Counterclaim Defendants. : -------------------------------------------------------------- X VALERIE CAPRONI, United States District Judge: WHEREAS on March 25, 2025, Cooley LLP (“Cooley”), counsel for Defendant and Counterclaim Plaintiff Chijet Motor Company, Inc. (“Chijet”) and Defendant Equiniti Trust Company, LLC (“Equiniti” and with Chijet, “Defendants”), filed a motion for leave to withdraw as counsel because Defendants terminated their engagement of Cooley for this action, see Dkts.64–65; WHEREAS Defendants also requested that the Court temporarily stay this action and all pending deadlines by at least 30 days to afford Defendants adequate time to secure new counsel, see id.; WHEREAS Rule 1.16(b)(3) of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct provides that “a lawyer shall withdraw from the representation of a client when . . . [t]he lawyer is discharged,” see N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 22 § 1200.1.16(b)(3); WHEREAS Chijet is a corporation and exempted company, and Equiniti is a limited

liability company, see Am. Compl. Dkt. 23, ¶¶ 6–7; Answer, Dkt. 48, ¶¶ 6–7; Rule 7.1 Statements, Dkts. 11 and 31; and WHEREAS corporations, limited liability companies, or other similar, artificial entities may not appear pro se and may litigate cases only through an attorney, see Lattanzio v. COMTA, 481 F.3d 137, 139–40 (2d Cir. 2007); Hounddog Prods., L.L.C. v. Empire Film Grp., Inc., 767 F. Supp. 2d 480, 486 (S.D.N.Y. 2011); IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Cooley’s motion for leave to withdraw as counsel is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to terminate Cooley as counsel for Defendants. Defendants are notified that their failure to find new counsel may result in the entry of default judgment against them and dismissal of Chijet’s counterclaim. See Steadman v.

Citigroup Glob. Markets Holdings Inc., 592 F. Supp. 3d 230, 240 (S.D.N.Y. 2022); Hounddog Prods, 767 F. Supp. 2d at 486. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this action and all pending deadlines are STAYED until the earlier of Monday, April 28, 2025, or whenever new counsel for Defendants files a notice of appearance. Within five days of the appearance of new counsel for Defendants, the parties must submit a joint letter to the Court proposing a briefing schedule for the parties’ outstanding motions and, if necessary, updated discovery deadlines. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Cooley must serve a copy of this Order on Defendants and file proof of service via ECF by not later than Thursday, March 27, 2025.

The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to terminate the open motion at Dkt. 64. SO ORDERED. Oece ( ~

Date: March 26, 2025 VALERIE a New York, New York United States District Judge