United States District Court, D. Arizona
ORDER
Dominic W. Lanza United Slates District Judge
On June
7, 2019, attorneys Erin A. Hertzog, Jeff Bouma, Larry Cohen,
and Joel Fugate of Cronus Law, PLLC (“Cronus”)
filed a “Notice of Substitution of Counsel”
(“Notice”), purporting to inform the Court that
they were substituting themselves into this action as counsel
for Defendants/Counterclaimants Grabbagreen Franchising, LLC,
Eat Clean Operations, LLC, Eat Clean Holdings, LLC, and Keely
Newman, currently represented by Tiffany & Bosco PA
(“T&B”). (Doc. 187.) This is impermissible.
Pursuant to LRCiv 83.3(b), a notice will suffice only when
there is a change of counsel within the same law
office. Otherwise, “no attorney shall be permitted
to withdraw or be substituted as attorney of record in any
pending action except by formal written order of the Court,
supported by written application setting forth the reasons
therefor, ” and following certain procedural
requirements. LRCiv 83.3(b).
The
docket in this action appears to inaccurately reflect the
representation of Defendants/Counterclaimants Grabbagreen
Franchising, LLC, Eat Clean Operations, LLC, Eat Clean
Holdings, LLC, and Keely Newman, as well as
Defendant/Counterclaimant Kelli Newman and Counterclaimant
Gulf Girl Squared Incorporated. Rather than attempting to
summarize the convoluted representations as currently listed
in the docket, the Court will instead explain what happened.
As of
April 16, 2019, all of the above-mentioned parties were
represented by T&B attorneys Jack Robert Vrablik, Robert
A. Royal, and Erin A. Hertzog.[1] (E.g., Docs. 163, 172.)
On
April 26, 2019, Erin Hertzog (at that time an attorney at
T&B, currently an attorney at Cronus) filed-on T&B
letterhead-a “Notice of Disassociation of
Counsel” (Doc. 174), stating: “Pursuant to Local
Rule of Civil Procedure 83.3(b)(4), Erin A. Hertzog, an
attorney of record for Defendants/Counterclaimants
Grabbagreen Franchising, LLC, Eat Clean Operations, LLC, Eat
Clean Holdings, LLC, Gulf Girl Squared, Inc., Kelli Newman
and Keely Newman, is withdrawing her association as an
attorney of record for Defendants/Counterclaimants
Grabbagreen Franchising, LLC, Eat Clean Operations, LLC, Eat
Clean Holdings, LLC, Gulf Girl Squared, Inc., Kelli Newman
and Keely Newman in the above-referenced matter. All
communications, pleadings, correspondence and the like shall
be directed to Defendants'/Counterclaimants' lead
counsel of record, Robert A. Royal, as of the date of this
filing.” Thus, after this filing, Erin Hertzog
represented no one in this action, and all of the
above-mentioned parties were represented by T&B attorneys
Jack Robert Vrablik and Robert A. Royal only.
On May
15, 2019, Defendant/Counterclaimant Kelli Newman (not her
spouse, Keely Newman) filed her Ex Parte Motion for
Withdrawal of Counsel and Substitution As Self-Represented
Litigant. (Doc. 176.) On May 16, 2019, the Court granted the
motion. (Doc. 178.)
Thus,
as of May 16, 2019, Kelli Newman appeared pro se, and all of
the other above-mentioned parties were represented by T&B
attorneys Jack Robert Vrablik and Robert A. Royal. Indeed,
all of the filings from May 16, 2019 for all of the
Defendants/Counterclaimants except Kelli Newman have been
filed by T&B attorneys Vrablik and Royal, as recently as
June 3, 2019 (Doc. 185), until terminated attorney Erin
Hertzog purported to file a “Notice” substituting
Cronus attorneys Erin Hertzog, Larry Cohen, Jeff Bouma, and
Joel Fugate on June 7, 2019. (Doc. 187.)
To the
extent that the “Notice” at Doc. 187 can be
construed as a motion, it will be denied for failure to
conform with the requirements of LRCiv 83.3. Thus,
Defendant/Counterclaimant Kelli Newman remains pro se (for
both her defense and counterclaim),
Defendants/Counterclaimants Grabbagreen Franchising, LLC, Eat
Clean Operations, LLC, Eat Clean Holdings, LLC, and Keely
Newman remain represented (in their defenses and
counterclaims) by T&B attorneys Jack Robert Vrablik and
Robert A. Royal, and Counterclaimant Gulf Girl Squared
Incorporated likewise remains represented by T&B
attorneys Jack Robert Vrablik and Robert A. Royal. No. party
in this action is currently represented by Cronus attorneys
Erin Hertzog, Larry Cohen, Jeff Bouma, and Joel Fugate,
because they have not yet sought and obtained an Order from
the Court permitting them to be substituted as counsel of
record. Thus, the Court will not consider the statement of
discovery dispute (Doc. 188), filed by Cronus attorney Erin
Hertzog, unless and until Ms. Hertzog becomes counsel of
record for the parties she purports to represent in this
action.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the “Notice”
(Doc. 187) is denied. The Clerk of Court is directed to
update the docket to indicate that Defendant/Counterclaimant
Kelli Newman is pro se (for both
her defense and counterclaim) pursuant to the Court's May
16, 2019 Order (Doc. 178), Defendants/Counterclaimants
Grabbagreen Franchising, LLC, Eat Clean Operations, LLC, Eat
Clean Holdings, LLC, and Keely
Newman are represented (in their defenses and counterclaims)
by T&B attorneys Jack Robert Vrablik and Robert A. Royal,
and Counterclaimant Gulf Girl Squared Incorporated likewise
is represented by T&B attorneys Jack Robert Vrablik and
Robert A. Royal. The docket should reflect that Erin Hertzog
was terminated per her April 26, 2019 “Notice of
Disassociation of Counsel” (Doc. … 174). The
docket should further reflect that Cronus attorneys Larry
Cohen, Jeff Bouma, and Joel Fugate have never represented any
party in this action.
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Notes:
[1] T&B attorney Amy D. Sells appears
in the signature block on various filings but apparently
never appeared in this action as counsel of record, as
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