Williams v. Harrington

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE CSG WA LLC, on behalf of NOLEEN CASE NO. C21-0143-JCC MELNIKOV and SERGEY MELNIKOV, MINUTE ORDER 11 Plaintiffs, v. TIMOTHY PATRICK HARRINGTON, et al., Defendants.

The following Minute Order is made by direction of the Court, the Honorable John C.

Coughenour, United States District Judge: This matter comes before the Court sua sponte. It appears that Plaintiffs, Noleen and Sergey Melnikov, are represented by Michael Williams and/or CSG WA LLC in this matter.

Strict rules govern who can represent a litigant in federal court. Generally, the only permissible representative is a licensed and admitted attorney. See C.E. Pope Equity Trust v. United States, 818 F.2d 696, 697–98 (9th Cir. 1987). Moreover, absent appropriate representation, a party’s filings must be signed by that party. Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(a). The Court will not accept filings signed by Michael Williams or CSG WA LLC on Plaintiffs’ behalf. Accordingly, the Court STRIKES the complaint signed by Mr. Williams (Dkt. No. 1). Plaintiffs must refile their complaint, properly signed and filed by themselves or a permissible representative, within twenty-one (21) days of this order or this matter will be dismissed without prejudice. The Clerk is DIRECTED to mail a copy of this order to CSG WA LLC and Mr. and Mrs. Melnikov.

3 DATED this 5th day of February 2021.

4 William M. McCool Clerk of Court s/Paula McNabb 6 Deputy Clerk