Summary
In Victor, the First Circuit explained that In re Las Colinas, Inc., 453 F.2d 911 (1st Cir. 1971), was "an instance where we permitted a non-lawyer to represent a corporation.
Summary of this case from In re Tremont Tower CondominiumOpinion
No. 76-1325.
November 29, 1976.
Samuel Newman, Boston, Mass., on brief for appellee.
Robert V. Pace on brief, pro se.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Before COFFIN, Chief Judge, ALDRICH and McENTEE, Circuit Judges.
The only issue before us on this appeal is the correctness of the district court's dismissal for want of prosecution of Robert V. Pace's appeal from the bankruptcy judge's denial of his motion to appear on behalf of Victor Publishers, Inc., a debtor in Chapter XI proceedings. The bankruptcy judge denied the motion on the grounds that Mr. Pace is a non-lawyer and as such may not represent a corporation. The district court dismissed Mr. Pace's appeal, ruling that "he is not entitled to represent the appellant debtor, a corporation." We affirm.
Although an individual has a statutory right to represent himself in federal court even if he is not a lawyer, 28 U.S.C. § 1654, a corporation may be represented only by licensed counsel. See, e. g., Commercial Railroad Bank v. Slocomb, 14 Pet. 60, 65, 39 U.S. 60, 65, 10 L.Ed. 354 (1840); Osborn v. Bank of United States, 9 Wheat. 738, 830, 22 U.S. 738, 830, 6 L.Ed. 204 (1824); United States v. 9.19 Acres of Land, 416 F.2d 1244 (6th Cir. 1969); Shapiro, Bernstein Co. v. Continental Record Co., 386 F.2d 426 (2d Cir. 1967); Simbraw, Inc. v. United States, 367 F.2d 373 (3d Cir. 1966); Flora Construction Co. v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., 307 F.2d 413, 414 (10th Cir. 1962), cert. denied, 371 U.S. 950, 83 S.Ct. 505, 9 L.Ed.2d 499 (1963); James v. Daley Lewis, 406 F. Supp. 645, 648 (D.Del. 1976); Turner v. American Bar Ass'n, 407 F. Supp. 451, 476-77 (N.D.Tex. 1975); Mac-Neil v. Hearst Corp., 160 F. Supp. 157, 159 (D.Del. 1958). This rule that a corporation may be represented only by licensed counsel is based not just on a tradition that goes back to the common law, Brandstein v. White Lamps, Inc., 20 F. Supp. 369 (S.D.N.Y. 1937), but also on the practical consideration that "[s]ince a corporation can appear only through its agents, they must be acceptable to the court; attorneys at law, who have been admitted to practice, are officers of the court and subject to its control." Id. Accordingly, the bankruptcy judge properly denied Mr. Pace's motion.
Mr. Pace cites the case of In re Las Colinas, Inc., 453 F.2d 911 (1st Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 1067, 92 S.Ct. 1502, 31 L.Ed.2d 797 (1972), as an instance where we permitted a non-lawyer to represent a corporation. Special considerations, including the extraordinary legal ability that had been demonstrated by the corporate officer in that case, caused us to make an exception from the traditional rule that "[a] corporation . . . can appear only by attorney." Osborn v. Bank of United States, 9 Wheat. 738, 830, 22 U.S. 738, 830, 6 L.Ed. 204 (1824) (Marshall, C. J.).
Affirmed.