1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 FRESH VEGETABLES DISTRIBUTION, Case No. 1:25-cv-01326-JLT-BAM LLC, a Texas limited liability company, 12 ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR Plaintiff, EXTENSION OF TIME ON CIVIL CASE 13 WITHOUT PREJUDICE v. 14 (Doc. 10.) JS COMPANIES, LLC, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff Fresh Vegetables Distribution, LLC initiated this action under the Perishable 18 Agricultural Commodities Act (“PACA”) on October 6, 2025, against Defendants JS Companies, 19 LLC, Jenna R. Scarborough, Jayda L. Scarborough, and Julia P. Scarborough. (Doc. 1.) An 20 initial Scheduling Conference is set for February 5, 2026. (Doc. 5.) 21 On November 19, 2025, defendant Jenna Scarborough, proceeding pro se, filed a “petition 22 for a extension of 60 days on the case file . . . due to needing to find legal representation to fully 23 review this case.” (Doc. 10.) Defendant Jenna Scarborough purports to request the extension on 24 behalf of herself and defendants JS Companies LLC, Jayda L. Scarborough, and Julia P. 25 Scarborough. (Id.) 26 The Court construes the broad request for an extension of time of the case file as a motion 27 to stay this action for sixty (60) days. A district court “has broad discretion to stay proceedings as 28 an incident to its power to control its own docket.” Clinton v. Jones,

(1997) 1 (citing Landis v. North American Co.,

(1936)). The party seeking the stay bears 2 the burden of establishing the need to stay the action. Clinton,

. 3 Based on the information presented, defendant Jenna Scarborough has not met her burden 4 of establishing the need to stay this action. There is no indication that defendant Jenna 5 Scarborough is unable to file a motion or pleading or is otherwise unable to communicate with 6 the Court. Further, she has not identified any particular deadline that she wishes to be extended. 7 As indicated above, the scheduling conference in this matter is not set until February 5, 2026, 8 which is more than sixty (60) days from the date of the request. 9 Additionally, to the extent defendant Jenna Scarborough is attempting to represent the 10 other defendants in this action, she may not do so. “Although a non-attorney may appear in 11 propria persona in his own behalf, that privilege is personal to him. He has no authority to appear 12 as an attorney for others than himself.” C.E. Pope Equity Trust v. U.S.,

(9th 13 Cir. 1987) (citations omitted). Further, corporations, including limited liability corporations, may 14 not appear in any action or proceeding pro se and must be represented by counsel. See Rowland v. 15 California Men's Colony, Unit II Men's Advisory Council,

(1993); D-Beam 16 Ltd. P'ship v. Roller Derby Skates, Inc.,

, 973-74 (9th Cir. 2004). 17 Accordingly, defendant Jenna Scarborough’s petition for an extension of time, construed 18 as a motion to stay, is DENIED without prejudice. 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20

21 Dated: December 2, 2025 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22

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