Pham v. Lincoln Benefit Life Co.

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 Kim-Anh Pham, No. 2:23-cv-00561-KJM-DB 12 Plaintiff, ORDER 13 v. Lincoln Benefit Life Company, 1S Defendant. 16 17 The applications for pro hac vice admission by Katherine L. Villanueva, W. Glenn Merten 18 | and Jamie Campisi are pending before the court. On July 26, 2023, this court ordered the 19 | attorneys to file declarations in support of their applications. Prior Order, ECF No. 36. The 20 | attorneys have timely filed their declarations. See ECF Nos. 39-41. The court has reviewed the 21 | declarations and finds Mr. Merten and Ms. Campisi have not been regularly employed or 22 | regularly engaged in professional activities in California. Additionally, although the court is 23 | concerned by the number of matters in which Ms. Villanueva has been admitted pro hac vice in 24 | California over the past five years, the court finds she also has not been regularly employed or 25 | regularly engaged in professional activities in California at this time. 26 The court has considered the number of matters in which each attorney has appeared as 27 | counsel in California, the type of activities the attorneys engaged in, and the extent to which the 28 | attorneys physically entered California, appeared or argued before a court in California, signed or

1 | filed briefs, and communicated with clients and opposing counsel. See Finder v. Leprino Foods 2 | Co., No. 13-02059, 2019 WL 6894468, at *4 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 18, 2019); see also Ang v. Bimbo 3 | Bakeries USA, Inc., No. 13-01196, 2015 WL 1474866, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 14, 2015). The court 4 | notes Ms. Villanueva has appeared pro hac vice in thirteen total matters in California in the past 5 | five years. See Villanueva Decl., ECF No. 39. But she has not signed or filed briefs, has not 6 | physically entered California for most of the matters in which she has been admitted pro hac vice, 7 | has appeared in a California court for about half of her cases, and many of the cases in which she 8 | has appeared are closed and were closed shortly after commencement. See Villanueva Decl., 9 | ECF No. 39. The court also notes the majority of Ms. Villanueva’s work has been limited to 10 | activities outside of California, including legal research, drafting, and conferring with co-counsel. 11 | Jd. Additionally, her communications with clients have been nonexclusive and have included co- 12 | counsel. /d. 13 Based on the attorneys’ declarations, the court finds they have not been regularly 14 | employed or regularly engaged in professional activities in California and hereby grants their pro 15 | hac vice applications. 16 This order resolves ECF Nos. 31, 32 and 33. 17 IT IS SO ORDERED. 18 DATED: August 10, 2023. / 19 CHIEF ED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE