United States v. Jefferson

Opinion

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR 1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE 9 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, CASE NO. C19-0211-JCC 10 Plaintiff, ORDER 11 v. 12 JAMES K. JEFFERSON, 13 Defendant. 14

15 This matter comes before the Court on attorney Steven C. Hathaway’s motion to 16 withdraw as counsel for Defendant James K. Jefferson (Dkt. No. 12). Having thoroughly 17 considered the motion and the relevant record, the Court hereby GRANTS the motion for the 18 reasons explained herein. 19 On June 11, 2019, the Court held a status conference in this matter and required the 20 parties to participate in mediation pursuant to Western District of Washington Local Civil Rule 21 39.1 no later than August 30, 2019. (See Dkt. No. 11.) The Government and Mr. Hathaway 22 agreed on a mediation date of August 16, 2019, subject to Defendant’s approval. (See Dkt. No. 23 12 at 2.) Subsequently, Mr. Hathaway made repeated unsuccessful attempts to contact Defendant 24 in order to confirm the mediation date and discuss other issues related to the case. (See id.) On 25 July 31, 2019, Mr. Hathaway filed the instant motion for leave to withdraw based on his inability 26 1 to effectively communicate with Defendant. (Dkt. No. 12.)1 2 No attorney shall withdraw an appearance without leave of the Court if the withdrawal 3 will leave the client without representation. W.D. Wash. Local Civ. R. 83.2(b)(1). An attorney 4 will ordinarily be permitted to withdraw until 60 days before the discovery cut-off date. Id. The 5 decision to deny or grant counsel’s motion to withdraw is within the discretion of the Court. 6 Washington v. Sherwin Real Estate, Inc., 694 F.2d 1081, 1087 (7th Cir. 1982). 7 Trial is scheduled for June 8, 2020, and the discovery deadline is not until February 2020. 8 (Dkt. No. 11.) Therefore, Mr. Hathaway’s motion is timely. Further, Mr. Hathaway’s motion to 9 withdraw complies with the Local Rules’ certification requirements. (See Dkt. No. 12 at 3); 10 W.D. Wash. Local Civ. R. 83.2(b)(1). Therefore, Mr. Hathaway’s motion for leave to withdraw 11 as counsel for Defendant (Dkt. No. 12) is GRANTED. In accordance with the Court’s order, 12 attorney Steven C. Hathaway and his firm, the Law Offices of Steven C. Hathaway, are 13 GRANTED leave to withdraw from representation and as counsel in this action for Defendant 14 James K. Jefferson, effective as of the date this order is issued. The Clerk is DIRECTED to mail 15 a copy of this order to Defendant James K. Jefferson at: 3373 Northgate Road, Bellingham, WA 16 98226. 17 DATED this 3rd day of September 2019. A 18 19 20 John C. Coughenour 21 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

22 23 24 25 1 Defendant did not respond to Mr. Hathaway’s attempts to contact him until August 8, 26 2019. (See Dkt. Nos. 12 at 2, 14 at 2.)