1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 6 * * *

7 ABBY RIOS, Case No. 2:11-cv-01592-KJD-CWH

8 Plaintiff-Appellant, Ninth Circuit App. No. 20-15701

9 v. ORDER

10 LIBORIOUS AGWARA, Esquire, Appellee, 11 and 12 WAL-MART STORES, INC. 13 Defendant

14 Presently before the Court is Plaintiff/Appellant Abby Rios’s Motion to Stay Execution 15 of Order (#276). Appellee Liborious Agwara filed a response in opposition (#281) to which 16 Appellant replied (#283). Also, before the Court is Agwara’s Emergency Motion for Order 17 Directing Plaintiff’s Counsel to Deposit Attorney’s Lien Funds with Court (#286). Appellant 18 filed a response in opposition (#287) to which Agwara replied (#288). 19 “A stay is not a matter of right.... It is instead ‘an exercise of judicial discretion’ ... [that] 20 ‘is dependent upon the circumstances of the particular case.’ ” Nken v. Holder,

, 21 433 (2009) (internal citations omitted) (quoting Virginian Ry. Co. v. United States,

658, 672–73 (1926)). Judicial discretion in exercising a stay is guided by the following four 23 factor analysis: “(1) whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that he is likely to 24 succeed on the merits; (2) whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; (3) 25 whether issuance of the stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the 26 proceeding; and (4) where the public interest lies.”

at 434 (citing Hilton v. Braunskill, 481

, 776 (1987)). “The party requesting a stay bears the burden of showing that the 28 circumstances justify an exercise of [this Court's] discretion.”

at 433–34. The first two 1 | factors are the most critical. 2 Here, the Court finds that the factors counsel in favor of granting a stay. First, Appellant has made a strong showing of likelihood of success on the merits. First, Agwara has done little to 4 show that he is likely to succeed on the merits of his appeal. Second, Agwara is unlikely to get to 5 | the merits of his appeal, because he has been barred from the practice of law but filed the appeal 6 | on behalf of the business entity to which the judgment was awarded. Agwara has not made a 7 | strong showing that he will survive the pending motion to dismiss at the Court of Appeals. The 8 | second factor neither counsels in favor of or against granting a stay because money damages are available. Third, because Appellant is willing to post a bond Agwara faces little danger of injury. 10 | Finally, the public interest lies in preserving the assets at issue for award upon resolution of the 11 | cross-appeals. 12 Therefore, the Court grants Appellants motion for stay of judgment pending appeal. 13 | Appellant is ordered to either post a bond in the amount of the judgment or deposit the full 14 amount of the award on the attorney’s lien, $26,400.28 (#268) with the Clerk of the Court within 15 | fourteen (14) days of the entry of this order. Grant of the stay and posting of the bond or deposit 16 | with the registry of the court makes Agwara’s emergency motion moot. 17 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff/Appellant Abby Rios’s Motion to 18 | Stay Execution of Order (#276) is GRANTED; 19 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Appellant post a bond in the amount of $26,400.28 or 20 | deposit the full amount with the Clerk of the Court within fourteen (14) days of the entry of this 21 order; 22 IT IS FINALLY ORDERED that Agwara’s Emergency Motion for Order Directing 23 | Plaintiff's Counsel to Deposit Attorney’s Lien Funds with Court (#286) is DENIED as moot. 24 | Dated this 11th day of January, 2021. 25 \ 26 Lat □□ > Kent J. Dawson United States District Judge 28

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