Kimberly Ward v. Mochi Health Corp.

Opinion

1 2 3 7 Case No. 26-cv-01393-PHK 9 Plaintiff,

10 v. ORDER RE APPLICATION FOR PRO HAC VICE ADMISSION Re: Dkt. 6 12 Defendant.

13 14 The Court notes that attorney Almeida has been granted pro hace vice status in this Court 15 six times in the last twelve months (as reported in his application). Based on the Court’s research, 16 Attorney Almeida is currently counsel of record in a total of nine pending cases in this District, as 17 well as three pending cases in the Central District of California, and three other pending cases in 18 the Southern District of California. The applicant, Attorney Almeida, is thus counsel of record in 19 fifteen currently pending cases in the federal district courts in California. At least some of these 20 cases appear to have been removed from California state court, and thus the applicant also appears 21 to be or has been counsel of record in an unknown number of cases pending in California 22 courts. Attorney Almeida’s firm bio states that he “has been involved in more than 450 class 23 action lawsuits throughout the country” and that he is currently “co-counsel in VPPA class action” 24 pending in this District. Attorney Almeida thus comes precipitously close to being “regularly 25 engaged in the practice of law in the State of California,” and thus, not qualified for pro hac vice 26 status under Civil Local Rule 7-11(c)(2). See Sabol v. PayPal Holdings, Inc., No. 23-cv-05100- 27 JSW, 2023 WL 8634798, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 13, 2023). 1 While a close call, the Court exercises its discretion in this instance and GRANTS 2 Attorney Almeida’s application for admission pro hac vice, subject to his compliance with the 3 terms of this Order. The Court ORDERS Attorney Almeida to attach a copy of this Order to any 4 and all applications for pro hac vice admission he files in any California courts (whether state or 5 federal) between the date of this Order and December 31, 2027. This is to enable courts in future 6 to save judicial resources researching Attorney Almeida’s appearances in California federal 7 district courts as of the date of this Order. Attorney Almeida is further ORDERED to file a 8 declaration under oath by January 14, 2028, certifying his compliance with this Order and listing 9 all cases between the date of this Order and December 31, 2027 in which he has been granted pro 10 hac vice status in a California court and listing all then-pending cases in California courts in which 11 he is counsel of record. Attorney Almeida is encouraged to sit for the California bar exam and, 12 should he become a member in good standing of the California bar prior to December 31, 2027, he 13 may seek modification of this Order. 14 IT IS SO ORDERED. a 16 || Dated: February 24, 2026 □

Z 18 United States Maristrate Judge 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28