Laughing Rabbit Inc v. Laser Bonding Tech Inc

Opinion

5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7

8 LAUGHING RABBIT, INC., CASE NO. 2:20-cv-01513-RSL 9 Plaintiff, v. 10

11 LASER BONDING TECH., INC., ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

12 Defendant. 13

14 This matter comes before the Court sua sponte. On September 9, 2024, defense 15 counsel was granted leave to withdraw and all case management deadlines were stayed for 16 90 days to allow defendant to retain new counsel. Dkt. # 84 and # 85. The stay has expired 17 by its own terms, and plaintiff filed motions in limine on December 19, 2024. Defendant 18 remains unrepresented. 19 A corporation or other artificial entity must be represented by licensed counsel in 20 federal court proceedings. See Rowland v. Cal. Men’s Colony, 506 U.S. 194, 201-202 21 (1993) (“It has been the law for the better part of two centuries ... that a corporation may 22 appear in federal courts only through licensed counsel.... [T]hat rule applies equally to all 23 artificial entities.”); see also LCR 83.2(b)(4) (“A business entity, except a sole 24 proprietorship, must be represented by counsel.”). A business entity that fails to appear in 25 26 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE - 1 1 federal court through counsel may have default and default judgment entered against it. 2 See United States v. High Country Broad. Co., 3 F.3d 1244, 1245 (9th Cir. 1993). 3

4 Defendant is directed to show cause by Friday, January 10, 2025, why default 5 should not be entered against it. The Clerk of Court is directed to note this order on the 6 Court’s calendar for consideration on that date. 7

9 DATED this 20th day of December, 2024.

10 11 Robert S. Lasnik 12 United States District Judge 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE - 2