United States v. Doonan

• Court: District Court, S.D. New York
• Decided: December 12, 2019
• Docket: 1:19-cv-09578
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

Smetana 0 ee | USDC SDNY SZ United States Attorn || DOCUMENT Southern District of ELECTRONICALLY FILED 86 Chambers Street DOC #___ New York, New York 10007 | DATE FILED: 12/12/2019 December 3, 2019 VIA ECF The Honorable Analisa Torres Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse 500 Pearl Street New York, NY 10007-1312 Re: United States v. Doonan et al., 19 Civ. 9578 (AT) Dear Judge Torres: This Office represents the United States of America (the “Government”) in the above- referenced case. In this action, the Government seeks an injunction that, among other things, bars defendants William Doonan (“Doonan”) and William Doonan and Associates, Inc. (“WDA”), from preparing or filing federal tax returns for others. We write to request an adjournment of the initial pretrial conference and in response to this Court’s Order instructing the parties to discuss consenting to a magistrate judge for all further proceedings, see Dkt. No. 4. A. Adjournment Request We respectfully request an adjournment of the initial pretrial conference, currently scheduled for December 16, 2019, at 11:40 AM, see Dkt. No. 3, to a date on or after December 23, 2019. We correspondingly respectfully request an extension of the time for the parties to submit a joint letter and proposed Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order to one week before the rescheduled hearing. We make these requests because Doonan has informed the undersigned that he intends to proceed pro se in this action and will be filing a response to the Government’s complaint later this week.! The Government would like to evaluate Doonan’s response before determining how it intends to proceed in this case. This is the Government’s first request for an adjournment or extension. Doonan consents to this request. Counsel for the Government is available on the following dates for an initial pretrial conference: December 23-24, 2019, January 2-10, 2020.

! As I have informed Doonan, it is the Government’s position that he cannot appear pro se on behalf of WDA, a corporate entity, in this action. See United States v. Twenty Miljam-350 IED Jammers, 669 F.3d 78, 91 (2d Cir. 2011) (“[A] corporation is not allowed to appear in federal court except by a licensed attorney”). Although a licensed attorney, Murray Richman, Esq., waived service of the complaint on behalf of WDA, see Dkt. No. 5, Mr. Richman has informed the Government that he will not further represent Doonan or WDA in this case.

B. Response to Court’s Order Regarding Consent to Magistrate Judge We also inform the Court that counsel for the Government and Doonan have discussed whether they are willing to consent, under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), to conducting all further proceedings before the assigned Magistrate Judge. At least one party does not consent. Thank you for your consideration of this matter. Respectfully, GEOFFREY S. BERMAN United States Attorney By: /s/ Charles S. Jacob CHARLES S. JACOB Assistant United States Attorney 86 Chambers Street, Third Floor New York, NY 10007 Tel: (212) 637-2725 Fax: (212) 637-2702 charles.jacob@usdoj.gov ce: Pro se Plaintiff (via U.S. mail and email)

GRANTED. The initial pretrial conference scheduled for December 16, 2019 is ADJOURNE to January 6, 2020, at 12:20 p.m. By December 30, 2019, the parties shall submit their joint letter proposed case management plan. SO ORDERED. Dated: December 12, 2019 New York, New York

ANALISA TORRES United States District Judge