Temple v. Callahan

          OPINION AND ORDER

          SAM E. HADDON United States District Judge.

         Introduction

         Brian John Temple ("Temple"), through privately engaged counsel, David S. Freedman, Esq. ("Freedman"), filed this action in Montana First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, on May 3, 2013. Temple, at all times, was represented by Freedman as his counsel of record, who appeared and acted on Temple's behalf, including at the summary judgment hearing held on October 20, 2016. Defendant Peter Joseph Callahan ("Callahan"), through his counsel Brendan J. Rohan, Esq., removed the case to this court on May 20, 2015.

         At the conclusion of the October 20, 2016, hearing the Court ordered entry of summary judgment dismissing Temple's claims. Judgment in favor of Defendants Callahan and City of Helena was entered October 20, 2016, and electronically served on counsel of record that same day.

         Several months before the October 20, 2016, summary judgment hearing, Freedman moved to withdraw as counsel for Temple.^[1] On February 17, 2016, the Court denied the motion to withdraw for failure to comply with L.R. 7.1 and L.R. 83.3 (a) or (b).^[2] No additional or other request to withdraw was filed. Freedman remained as counsel of record for Temple after February 17, 2016, and continues in that role and with all attendant responsibilities as of today.

         Discussion

         The rules of this court^[3] governing submission of motions and substitution and withdrawal of counsel are L.R. 7.1, L.R. 83.3(a) and (b):

7.1 Motions

(a) Scope. Except for pleadings under Fed.R.Civ.P. 7(a), pleadings in proceedings under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2254, or 2255, or applications for a temporary restraining order, Rules 7.1 and 7.2 apply to all written requests that the court take or refrain from taking a particular action, except where another rule provides otherwise.

(c) Prerequisites to Filing a Motion.

(1) The text of the motion must state that other parties have been contacted and state whether any party objects to the motion. Parties that have not yet appeared in the action or whose default has been entered need not be contacted.

83.3 Substitution and Withdrawal of Counsel.

(a) Substitution of Counsel. When a party changes attorneys, a notice of substitution signed by the incoming and the outgoing attorney must be filed by the incoming attorney. The incoming attorney is responsible for ensuring that he or she is added to the case for the correct party or parties and is properly designated to receive notices of electronic filing. When the incoming attorney makes an appearance, the clerk must terminate electronic service on the outgoing attorney. Substitution of counsel ...