Attorney Practice Information & Resources

For information about admission to the Bar of the Central District of California, please follow the Attorney Admissions link on the left side of this page. 

If you are already a member of the Court’s Bar, or have otherwise been authorized to appear in a case in this Court, you should be aware of your obligations to maintain and update your business and contact information, as more fully set forth in Local Rules 5-4.8.1 and 83-2.4.

For guidance on updating an attorney’s business or contact information, noting an appearance or withdrawal, or requesting the Court’s approval of a change in representation, please consider the following.

UPDATING AN ATTORNEY’S BUSINESS OR CONTACT INFORMATION

Attorneys with pending cases:

If you are counsel of record in a case currently pending in this district and you need to update your business or contact information, you must file and serve Form G-06 (“Notice of Change of Attorney Business or Contact Information”) in each of your pending cases.  Doing so will satisfy your notice obligation under Local Rule 83-2.4.  In addition, if you are registered for the Court’s electronic filing system, you must log in to PACER and update your account information.  See Local Rule 5-4.8.1.  Click here for instructions to update your account information in PACER.

Attorneys with no pending cases:

If you are registered for the Court’s electronic filing system but have no cases currently pending in this district, and you need to update your business or contact information in the Court’s records, you must log in to PACER and update your account information.  Click here for instructions.  Doing so satisfies your obligations under Local Rules 5-4.8.1 and 83-2.4; you do not need to file or submit any form.

If you are not registered for the Court’s electronic filing system, have no cases currently pending in this district, and need to update your business or contact information in the Court’s records, please complete Form G-06 (“Notice of Change of Attorney Business or Contact Information”) (you may leave the caption and case number blank) and e-mail it to [email protected] with the subject line “Attention: Attorney Admission Clerk.”  Doing so satisfies your notice obligation under Local Rule 83-2.4.

Please note: Form G-06 should be used only to make changes to an attorney’s business or contact information, not to change a party’s representation.  If you need to add, remove, or substitute counsel in a particular case, see Noting an Appearance or Withdrawal and/or Requesting Court Approval of a Change in Representation, below.

NOTING AN APPEARANCE OR WITHDRAWAL

Appearance of Counsel:  To enter an appearance in a case or to update a case’s docket to reflect a prior appearance, an attorney may use Form G-123 (“Notice of Appearance or Withdrawal of Counsel”).  The attorney should complete Sections I, II, and IV of that form, then file and serve the form in the relevant case.  (Using an attorney’s PACER account to file the form will expedite the addition of that attorney to the docket as counsel of record.)

Withdrawal of Counsel: Form G-123 (“Notice of Appearance or Withdrawal of Counsel”) may also be used to terminate an attorney’s status as counsel of record for a party in three situations: (1) the attorney being terminated has already been relieved by the Court, but the docket does not yet reflect that fact; (2) at least one member of the attorney’s firm or agency will continue to represent that party and the withdrawing attorney is not the only member of the Bar of this Court representing that party; or (3) the represented party has been dismissed from the case, but the attorneys are still receiving notices of electronic filing.  For any of these situations, an attorney should complete Sections I, III, and IV of Form G-123, then file and serve the form in the relevant case.

Note: In situations not covered by the preceding paragraph, attorneys seeking to withdraw from a case must first obtain the Court’s permission. See Requesting Court Approval of a Change in Representation, below, for further information.

REQUESTING COURT APPROVAL OF A CHANGE IN REPRESENTATION

Generally, an attorney may withdraw from representing a party in a case without the Court’s permission if another member of the attorney’s firm or agency will continue to represent that party and the withdrawing attorney is not the only member in good standing of the Bar of this Court representing that party.  In that circumstance, the withdrawing attorney should complete and file Form G-123 (“Notice of Appearance or Withdrawal of Counsel”), as discussed above.

Notably, however, Court permission for withdrawal or substitution is required if no member of the withdrawing attorney’s firm or agency will remain as counsel of record.  In such circumstances, the attorney(s) seeking to withdraw should complete and file a “Request for Approval of Substitution or Withdrawal of Counsel” (Form G-01) and submit a proposed “Order on Request for Approval of Substitution or Withdrawal of Counsel” (Form G-01 Order).

If the circumstances surrounding an attorney’s withdrawal or request to substitute other counsel are not covered by Form G-01, the attorney may instead file a regularly noticed motion supported by a more detailed memorandum of points and authorities.