On-demand startups are angry with labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan for suing them, and they’re trying anything to stop her.
One of these startups, laundry service Washio, has argued to a court that while Liss-Riordan has filed several lawsuits in California, she’s not actually licensed to practice there (she’s based in Massachusetts). San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn told her on Friday that she wasn’t eligible for admission pro hac vice because she is “regularly engaged in substantial legal activities in California,” according to The Recorder. Admission pro hac vice is usually granted to an attorney who may not be licensed to practice in a particular state but requests for an exception to represent a client in that jurisdiction.
Unfortunately for Washio — and Uber, Lyft, Doordash, Instacart, and the others — that won’t deter Liss-Riordan, who plans on taking the California bar exam in February and establishing an office in the state as well.
“I am flattered that one of these companies would be so concerned about having me on the case that they would fight my pro hac vice admission (which is rather routinely granted),” she told Fusion. “But if they hoped to deter me, it didn’t work, because I’ll just get admitted now in California.”
