M.M. v. Tacoma School District No 10

Opinion

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5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA 9 10 M.M., as guardian for her minor daughter, CASE NO. 3:21-CV-05865-LK 11 O.M., ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO 12 Plaintiffs, WITHDRAW v. 13 TACOMA SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 10, 14 et al., 15 Defendants. 16

17 This matter comes before the Court on Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman LLP’s Motion 18 to Withdraw as Counsel for Defendant Steven Holmes. Dkt. No. 57. Counsel state that Mr. Holmes 19 unexpectedly passed away on April 9, 2023, and that his death “has terminated the attorney-client 20 relationship[.]” Id. at 1–2. They aver that “[a]ll parties have been informed of Mr. Holmes’ passing 21 and Plaintiff[s’] counsel has been provided with his Certificate of Death.” Dkt. No. 59 at 1. 22 Plaintiffs have not responded to the motion or otherwise opposed the request. 23 An attorney must seek leave of court before withdrawing from representation except in 24 certain circumstances that do not apply here. See LCR 83.2(b)(1). Because “[a] client’s death 1 terminates the relation of attorney and client and the attorney’s authority to act by virtue thereof” 2 unless the attorney can show the client intended representation to continue following his death, 3 Vincent v. Vincent, 554 P.2d 374, 378 (Wash. Ct. App. 1976), the Court GRANTS the motion. See 4 also Stella Sales, Inc. v. Johnson, 985 P.2d 391, 397 (Wash. Ct. App. 1999) (the attorney for a

5 deceased party may no longer represent that party’s interests because the death of a client 6 terminates the attorney-client relationship). 7 Dated this 27th day of June, 2023. 8 A 9 Lauren King United States District Judge 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23