1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10

11 ADRIAN LAZOS, Case No. 1:23-cv-00885-CDB

12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED REQUEST

TO TERMINATE GUARDIAN AD LITEM AND

13 v. ADJUST DOCKET

14 CITY OF BAKERSFIELD, et al., ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF THE COURT

TO TERMINATE GUARDIAN AD LITEM AND

15 Defendants. MODIFY THE DOCKET TO IDENTIFY

PLAINTIFF BY HIS FULL LEGAL NAME

16 (Doc. 56) 17 18

19 Pending before the Court is the stipulated request of the parties to terminate Plaintiff’s guardian

20 ad litem Jenae Lewis and modify the docket to identity Plaintiff by his full legal name, Adrian Lazos. 21 (Doc. 56). 22 Legal Standard 23 Pursuant to Rule 17 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a representative of a minor or 24 incompetent person may sue or defend on the minor or incompetent person’s behalf. Fed. R. Civ. P. 25 17(c). A court “must appoint a guardian ad litem—or issue another appropriate order—to protect a 26 minor or incompetent person who is unrepresented in an action.” Id. The capacity of an individual to 27 sue is determined “by the law of the individual’s domicile.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 17(b)(1). 28 1 Under California law, an individual under the age of 18 is a minor, and a minor may bring suit 2 if a guardian conducts the proceedings. Cal. Fam. Code §§ 6502, 6601. The Court may appoint a 3 guardian ad litem to represent the minor’s interests. Cal. Code Civ. P. § 372(a). The decision to appoint 4 a guardian ad litem “must normally be left to the sound discretion of the trial court.” United States v. 5 30.64 Acres of Land, 795 F.2d 796, 804 (9th Cir. 1986. 6 Discussion 7 In the parties’ joint pretrial statement, Defendants represent that “they believe that [] A.L.’s 8 guardian ad litem needs to be terminated due to A.L. reaching the age of majority.” (Doc. 51 at 22). 9 The Court discussed this matter with the parties during the pretrial conference (Doc. 52), during which 10 Plaintiff’s counsel represented he had no opposition to termination of Plaintiff’s guardian ad litem and 11 directing that Plaintiff be identified by his full legal name in this action going forward. Subsequently, 12 in the pretrial order (Doc. 53), the Court ordered Plaintiff to file, within seven days, a stipulated request 13 to terminate the guardian ad litem and modify the docket to use A.L.’s full legal name. Upon notice of 14 settlement of the case (Doc. 54), the Court ordered Plaintiff to file the stipulated request within two days 15 (Doc. 55). 16 In their timely joint stipulated request (Doc. 56), the parties represent that Plaintiff A.L. was 17 previously a minor in this action who has now reached the age of majority. Accordingly, the Court will 18 grant the parties’ stipulated request, terminate Plaintiff’s guardian ad litem, and direct the Clerk of the 19 Court to modify the docket to use Plaintiff’s full legal name. See Holt v. County of Orange, No. 8:19- 20 CV-00297-AG-KES, 2019 WL 13240412, at *1 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 20, 2019) (“Therefore, the Court 21 provisionally appoints Plaintiff Adriana Seneca Holt as guardian ad litem of Plaintiff J.H., to terminate 22 upon his eighteenth birthday.”). 23 24 Remainder of This Page Intentionally Left Blank 25 26 27 28 1 || Conclusion and Order 2 For the foregoing reasons, it is HEREBY ORDERED: 3 1. The parties’ stipulated request (Doc. 56) is GRANTED. 4 2. Jenae Lewis is terminated as guardian ad litem for Plaintiff. 5 3. The caption and contents of all future filings shall identify Plaintiff by his full legal name. 6 4. The Clerk of the Court is directed to terminate the guardian ad litem and modify the □□□□□□ 7 identify Plaintiff by his full legal name, Adrian Lazos, in place of his initials. 8 || IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: _Mareh 20, 2025 | hr 10 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28