Northwest Administrators Inc v. HW Maintenance Lax LLC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 10 NORTHWEST CASE NO. C20-0594JLR ADMINISTRATORS, INC., 11 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE Plaintiff, 12 v. HW MAINTENANCE LAX, LLC, Defendant.

This matter comes before the court sua sponte. Defendant HW Maintenance LAX, LLC (“HW Maintenance”) filed an answer to Plaintiff Northwest Administrators, Inc.’s complaint signed by Jose D. Gutierrez. (See Ans. (Dkt. # 6) at 4.) The answer and Mr. Gutierrez’s signature block fail to indicate whether Mr. Gutierrez is proceeding pro se or whether he is appearing as counsel on behalf of HW Maintenance. If Mr. Gutierrez is a licensed attorney appearing on behalf of HW Maintenance, then his signature needs to comply with the court’s electronic filing procedures, which require that attorney signature blocks for an attorney’s initial appearance list the attorney’s bar number, address, phone number, and email address. See W.D. Wash. Electronic Filing Procedures for Civil and Criminal Cases § III.L (outlining proper format for signature block for attorney appearances).

5 Alternatively, if Mr. Gutierrez is not an attorney and seeks to represent HW Maintenance pro se, then his attempted appearance is improper. Supreme Court precedent and this court’s local rules require that a business entity must be represented by counsel in federal court. See Rowland v. Cal. Men’s Colony, 506 U.S. 194, 202 (1993) (“It has been the law for the better part of two centuries . . . that a corporation may appear in federal courts only through licensed counsel . . . . [T]hat rule applies equally to all artificial entities.”); W.D. Wash. Local Rule LCR 83.2(b)(3) (“A business entity, except a sole proprietorship, must be represented by counsel.”). Under the local rules, a business entity’s failure to obtain counsel “may result in . . . entry of default against the business entity.” W.D. Wash. Local Rule LCR 83.2(b)(3).

15 Accordingly, the court ORDERS HW Maintenance to re-file its answer with an appropriate signature block for Mr. Gutierrez if he is an attorney, obtain counsel to represent it in this lawsuit if Mr. Gutierrez is not an attorney, or show cause within 30 days of the filing date of this order why the court should not enter default against HW // // // // Maintenance if it remains unrepresented by counsel. If HW Maintenance does not obtain counsel or otherwise show cause within 30 days, the court will enter default against it.

3 Dated this 26th day of June, 2020.

A 6 JAMES L. ROBART United States District Judge