1

2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 5 Case No. 2:25-cv-01033-GMN-NJK 6 ALEX LOPEZ, et al., Order 7 Plaintiffs,

8 v.

9 GAV KWOK, et al.,

10 Defendants. 11 Pending before the Court is the order requiring Defendant Freedom Isle LLC to retain 12 counsel by September 15, 2025. Docket No. 8; see also Docket No. 6. 13 I. BACKGROUND 14 On July 1, 2025, the Court ordered Defendant Freedom Isle LLC to retain licensed counsel 15 to represent it in this case and enter an appearance no later than August 1, 2025. Docket No. 6. 16 The Court explained that Defendant Kwok’s appearance as an authorized representative for 17 Defendant Freedom Isle LLC is in violation of the law requiring a corporation to appear through 18 licensed counsel. Id. Further, the Court explained that failure of an appearance of licensed counsel 19 on behalf of Defendant Freedom Isle LLC may result in sanctions. Id. On July 22, 2025, 20 Defendant Freedom Isle LLC, through Defendant Kwok, requested an extension of 90 days to 21 retain licensed counsel. Docket No. 7. That motion proffered that Defendant Kwok, on behalf of 22 Defendant Freedom Isle LLC, has contacted “approximately 12 law firms,” sought “paid 23 consultations to discuss the case,” and explored “options for Limited Scope Representation 24 agreements to reduce the financial burden.” Id. at 1. On July 28, 2025, the Court granted the 25 motion in part, affording Defendant Freedom Isle LLC until September 15, 2025, to retain licensed 26 counsel and have counsel enter an appearance. Docket No. 8. 27 28 1 II. STANDARDS 2 “A corporation may appear in federal court only through licensed counsel.” United States 3 v. High Country Broadcasting Co.,

, 1245 (9th Cir. 1993); see also Rowland v. Cal. 4 Men's Colony, Unit II Men’s Advisory Council,

(1993) (“It has been the law 5 for the better part of two centuries ... that a corporation may appear in the federal courts only 6 through licensed counsel”). The Ninth Circuit has held that case-dispositive sanctions are 7 appropriate for a corporation’s failure to retain counsel. See High Country Broadcasting Co., 3 8 F.3d at 1245 (explaining that entry of default judgment against a corporate defendant without 9 counsel was “perfectly appropriate”). 10 III. ANALYSIS 11 Defendant Freedom Isle LLC has now had nearly three months to retain licensed counsel, 12 but has not complied with the orders to do so. Rather than meet the most recent deadline, 13 Defendant Freedom Isle LLC asks (along with the other parties) that its obligation to retain counsel 14 be stayed pending a settlement conference presided over by a magistrate judge or pending private 15 mediation. See Docket No. 12 at 1. As to the former, no explanation has been advanced as to why 16 participating in a judicially facilitated settlement conference would not constitute “appear[ing] in 17 federal court” without an attorney. As to the latter, no explanation is provided as to how the 18 potential for private mediation warrants continued delay from complying with the twice-ordered 19 requirement to obtain counsel in this case. Moreover, in an order issued concurrently herewith, 20 the Court is denying the request to stay discovery pending a settlement conference or private 21 mediation. In short, the Court is not persuaded that Defendant Freedom Isle LLC should be 22 afforded relief from the basic requirement that a corporation must retain licensed counsel to appear 23 in federal court. 24 IV. CONCLUSION 25 Defendant Freedom Isle LLC is once again ORDERED to retain licensed counsel to 26 represent it in this case. Said counsel must enter an appearance no later than October 15, 2025. 27 The Court is not inclined to extend this deadline further given the extensive amount of time already 28 1} provided. Moreover, Defendant Freedom Isle LLC is again WARNED that failure to comply with 2|| this order may result in dispositive sanctions. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. 4 Dated: September 17, 2025 ee Nancy J. Koppa, 6 United States Magistrate Judge 7 . i, 8 9 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28