Judge Nicholas Garaufis
On July 15, bankruptcy court dismissed Samuel Adams Enterprises LLC’s application for Chapter 11 relief. On Sept. 16, Samuel Adams appealed, purportedly through “movant” Sanchez. Appellee Mountain One Bank then requested a pre-motion conference in anticipation of its motion to dismiss the appeal from bankruptcy court. District court denied the request for a pre-motion conference as unnecessary, granting Mountain One Bank leave to file a motion to dismiss and setting a briefing schedule. Samuel Adams, through Sanchez, argued that Sanchez should be permitted to represent it as the “sole owner of Appellant/Debtor Samuel Adams Enterprises LLC” because neither Samuel Adams nor Sanchez have the funds to finance the appeal. Mountain One moved to dismiss the appeal based on, among other reasons, Samuel Adams’ failure to appear by counsel. The instant court granted Mountain One’s motion to dismiss, determining that, regardless of representation before the bankruptcy court, the law is clear that Samuel Adams must be represented by counsel in the instant action. The court dismissed the appeal without prejudice to renewal if Samuel Adams obtains a licensed attorney to represent it.
