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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
`SAN JOSE DIVISION
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`Case No. 18-md-02834-BLF
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`ORDER DENYING MOTION TO
`SUBSTITUTE COUNSEL
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`Case No.: 5:18-cv-00767-BLF
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`Case No.: 5:18-cv-05619-BLF
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`IN RE: PERSONALWEB
`TECHNOLOGIES, LLC ET AL., PATENT
`LITIGATION
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`AMAZON.COM, INC., and AMAZON
`WEB SERVICES, INC.,
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`Plaintiffs
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`v.
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`PERSONALWEB TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
`and LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC,
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`Defendants,
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`PERSONALWEB TECHNOLOGIES, LLC,
`and LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC,
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`Plaintiffs,
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`v.
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`TWITCH INTERACTIVE, INC.,
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`Defendant.
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`On May 17, 2021, Plaintiff filed a motion to substitute Plaintiff PersonalWeb Technologies
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`LLC, in pro per, in place of Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP. ECF 679. While the Court may have
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`suggested at the recent case management conference that this substitution was permissible, a more
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`searching review of civil procedure indicates otherwise. A corporation or other artificial entity must
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`be represented by licensed counsel. See, e.g., Rowland v. California Men's Colony, 506 U.S. 194,
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`201–202 (1993) (“It has been the law for the better part of two centuries, for example, that a
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`corporation may appear in the federal courts only through licensed counsel.”); Civil L.R. 3–9(b) (“A
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`corporation, unincorporated association, partnership or other such entity may appear only through a
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`United States District Court
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`Case 5:18-md-02834-BLF Document 685 Filed 05/19/21 Page 2 of 2
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`member of the bar of this Court.”). Accordingly, the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s Motion to Substitute
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`Counsel at ECF 679.
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`IT IS SO ORDERED.
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`Dated: May 19, 2021
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`______________________________________
`BETH LABSON FREEMAN
`United States District Judge
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