IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS CENTRAL DIVISION

MARTHELLA JOHNSON TRUST, Guardian of Minor John Doe 1 PLAINTIFF

v. Case No. 4:20-cv-00873-LPR

PATTY KUPFER, Campaign Director/State Policy Director; ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DEFENDANTS

ORDER Plaintiff Marthella Johnson Trust (“the Trust”), Guardian of Minor John Doe, paid the requisite filing fee and filed this pro se complaint on July 30, 2020 seeking money damages for violations of

The Trust has since filed an Amended Complaint2 alleging that Minor John Doe’s photo was taken and used by Defendants without either his or his guardian’s permission in promotional materials for a statewide minimum wage ballot campaign. Pending is Defendant Kupfer’s Motion to Dismiss for the unauthorized practice of law.3 The Motion is granted. A trust may not proceed pro se in federal court; nor may it be represented by a non-lawyer.4 Even if the Guardian were to substitute her name for the Trust as Plaintiff, the case would be dismissed because “non-attorney parents cannot litigate pro se on behalf of their minor children.”5

1 Complaint, Doc. 1.

2 Amended Complaint, Doc. 4 at 4.

3 Motion to Dismiss, Doc. 6.

4 United States v. Mengedoht, 790 Fed. App’x 841 (8th Cir. 2020) (per curiam) (nonlawyer may not represent another entity in federal court); Knoefler v. United Bank of Bismark,

, 348 (8th Cir. 1994) (same). See also United States v. Lylalele, Inc.,

(8th Cir. 2000) (unpublished) (citing Knoefler and noting that “corporations and trusts cannot appear in a federal court without legal representation.”).

5 Crozier v. Westside Cmty. Sch. Dist., ___ F.3d ___, ___ (8th Cir. 2020),

, at 3 (per curiam). To the extent the Guardian is seeking relief on behalf of herself, she has no standing because “parents lack standing to IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that: 1. Defendant Kupfer’s Motion to Dismiss, Doc. 6, is GRANTED. 2. The Complaint is DISMISSED without prejudice. Dated, this 21st day of October, 2020.

fi a

LEE P. RUDOFSKY UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

marks and citation omitted) (collecting cases).