A State of Washington appellate court ruled that a single member LLC must be represented in a court proceeding by a lawyer rather than the sole member of the LLC. The court said:
A limited liability company (LLC) must be represented by a lawyer in order to litigate. This is simply an application of the general rule prohibiting laypersons from representing other persons or entities in court proceedings. Because a layperson does not have a lawyer’s professional skills or ethical responsibilities, such representation imposes undue burdens on opposing parties and the courts. These considerations are just as important when the LLC has only one owner. We affirm an order requiring the appellant LLC to obtain legal representation in order to pursue its claim”
Arizona LLCs, corporations and partnerships must also be represented in court by a licensed Arizona attorney.
The case is Dutch Village Mall vs. Raymond J. Pelletti, Washington Court of Appeal, Division One, July 5, 2011.
Even as a defendant in a civil case filed in Superior Court?
Yes.
What about an Inc. entity? Is there case law in Arizona for that or just the Washington case?
All types of entities (corporations, LLCs, PLLCs, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, limited liability limited partnerships and general partnerships) must be represented by an attorney if they are involved in litigation in an Arizona state court.
I found AZ case law on it yesterday…thx