American Pacific Mortgage Corporation v. Everett Financial Inc

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA AMERICAN PACIFIC MORTGAGE Case No. 2:21-cv-01088-TMC CORPORATION; ELEMENT MORTGAGE, ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS ATTORNEY FOR Plaintiffs, DEFENDANT LUKE WELLING v. EVERETT FINANCIAL INC.; LUKE WELLING; JANE/JON DOES 1-10; DOE BUSINESS/CORPORATE ENTITIES 1-10, Defendants.

Before the Court is Attorneys F. Matthew Ralph and Marina Lyons’s motion to withdraw as attorneys for Defendant Luke Welling. Dkt. 62. Having reviewed the motion, Mr. Welling’s response (Dkt. 69), and the attorneys’ reply (Dkt. 70), the Court GRANTS the motion.

I. BACKGROUND Counsel filed the motion to withdraw on October 24, 2023, explaining that they had twice notified Mr. Welling of their intent to withdraw and that he did not respond prior to the filing of the motion. Id. at 2. Plaintiff American Pacific Mortgage Corp. and Defendant Everett Financial, Inc. dba Supreme Lending do not object to the withdrawal. See id. On November 6, 2023, counsel filed Mr. Welling’s response to the motion expressing his opposition to their withdrawal and arguing that Counsel are “connected” with him in his defense of this litigation. Dkt. 69 at 2.

3 The same day, Counsel filed a reply in support of their motion, alleging that “Defendant Luke Welling is no longer employed at Defendant Everett Financial, Inc. dba Supreme Lending, and there is a disagreement as to responsibility for payment of Dorsey & Whitney’s legal fees to continue representing Luke Welling.” Dkt. 70 at 2.

7 II. DISCUSSION The Local Civil Rules for the Western District of Washington require leave of court for an attorney to withdraw an appearance if it will leave a party unrepresented. See LCR 83.2(b)(1).

District courts in the Ninth Circuit have considered the following factors in assessing motions to withdraw as counsel: “(1) the reasons why withdrawal is sought; (2) the prejudice withdrawal may cause to other litigants; (3) the harm withdrawal might cause to the administration of justice; and (4) the degree to which withdrawal will delay the resolution of the case.” Protingent, Inc. v. Gustafson-Feis, No. 2:20-cv-01551-TL, 2022 WL 2479124, at *1 (W.D. Wash. July 6, 2022). “District courts have discretion to approve or deny a motion to withdraw as counsel.” Id. at *1 (citing McNall v. Pac. Ret. Servs., Inc., 859 F. App’x 48, 49 (9th Cir. 2021)). Pursuant to the local rules of this District, attorneys “will ordinarily be permitted to withdraw until sixty days before the discovery cut off date in a civil case.” LCR 83.2(b)(1).

A fee dispute is generally a legitimate reason for withdrawal. See Protingent, 2022 WL 19 2479124, at *2. Given that the case is in the early stages of litigation and the discovery cutoff date is May 15, 2024, Dkt. 68, well over 60 days away, withdrawal is unlikely to harm the administration of justice, unduly prejudice Mr. Welling, or delay resolution of the case. The other litigants do not object to the withdrawal. The Court therefore finds good reason to grant the motion. See LCR 83.2(b)(1).

1 III. CONCLUSION Accordingly, the motion to withdraw as attorneys for Defendant Luke Welling, Dkt. 62, is GRANTED. All further pleadings and correspondence should be served upon Defendant Luke Welling at the mailing address provided by his former counsel: Luke Welling 2916 Horsehead Bay Dr NW Gig Harbor, WA 98335 (206) 913-8232 If future pleadings and correspondence should be served at a different address, Mr. Welling must inform the Court as soon as possible. The Court encourages Mr. Welling to search for replacement counsel and to consult this District’s resources for pro se litigants, available at https://www.wawd.uscourts.gov/representing-yourself-pro-se. These resources include information on registering for electronic filing.

The Clerk is directed to send uncertified copies of this Order to all counsel of record and to any party appearing pro se at said party’s last known address.

Dated this 20th day of November, 2023.

A Tiffany M. Cartwright 19 United States District Court Judge