The current economy may cause corporations to try to cut costs by having a non-attorney such as a corporate officer appear in court on their behalf. After all, individuals can appear in court pro se (representing themselves without an attorney). Foregoing legal representation is not a good strategy in Washington State, however, because the state’s case law requires corporations to be represented by an attorney. For example, in a case called Lloyd Enterprises v. Longview Plumbing and Heating Co., the attorney for one of the parties, a corporation called Berry, Inc., withdrew and Wade Berry, the president of the company (who was not an attorney licensed to practice in Washington State) filed legal documents with the Superior Court himself on behalf of the corporation. The attorneys for other parties in the case moved to strike the documents signed by Berry.
The Superior Court gave Berry, Inc. 20 days to file an answer signed by an attorney and when the corporation failed to do so, the court entered default judgments against Berry, Inc. The Court of Appeals upheld the judgments against Berry, Inc. and stated: “Because corporations are artificial entities that can only act though their agents, we agree with the general common law rule, recognized by courts in other jurisdictions, including all federal courts, that corporations appearing in court proceedings must be represented by an attorney.” The Court of Appeals in the Lloyd Enterprises case also noted that “save in a few aberrant cases” corporations, partnerships or associations cannot appear in federal court other than through a licensed attorney.
A later case, Biomed Comm, Inc., v. State Dept. of Health Bd. of Pharmacy, upheld the Lloyd Enterprises case and also made it clear that if a non-lawyer files legal documents in court on behalf of a corporation, the court should give the corporation a reasonable amount of time to have the documents signed by an attorney before dismissing the case. In the Biomed Comm case, the corporation’s Board chair filed a petition for review from an administrative decision one day before the deadline and the Superior Court dismissed the petition because it was not signed by a licensed attorney. The Court of Appeals reversed the order of dismissal and sent the case back to the Superior Court for further proceedings.
Three things to keep in mind about the requirement for corporations to be represented by a lawyer in court – first, the lawyer has to be licensed to practice in Washington State or admitted pro hac vice (a process by which a licensed Washington State attorney vouches for a licensed out-of-state attorney who is in good standing). Second, having the corporation assign its claims to an individual who then appears pro se is not a feasible work-around. Third, the requirement does not apply to cases in small claims court where the parties are not allowed to have lawyers appear for them (though lawyers can help the parties prepare their small claims court case).
The information in this post is not legal advice, nor does it create an attorney-client privilege. It is a general overview only and should not be relied on. Also, keep in mind that the law may have changed since this post was written on June 7, 2010.
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