United States v. Brown

RULING

BLSB, INC. and W.W.T.O., INC. have filed pleadings in this matter. Each corporation suggests that the property seizures issued as a result of criminal convictions of the defendants in these proceedings should be annulled. Each corporation argues that as an owner of the seized property, it is not responsible for the criminal conduct of any defendant that used the property.

We are unable to consider the motions. In civil actions, and these motions are civil in nature, corporations must be represented by licensed counsel. Although an individual has a statutory right to represent himself in federal court without the participation of a lawyer, under 28 U.S.C. § 1654, a corporation may be represented only by an attorney. Thus, a corporation may not appear in a federal civil action pro se. This rule applies even where the would-be representative of the corporation is the corporate president and sole shareholder. See Lowery v. Hoffman, 188 F.R.D. 651 (M.D.Ala. 1999). As the Fifth Circuit stated in Southwest Express Co., Inc. v. Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 670 F.2d 53, at 56: “Corporations and partnerships, by their very nature, are unable to represent themselves, and the consistent interpretation of Section 1654 is that the only proper representative of a corporation or partnership is a licensed attorney, not an unlicensed layman, regardless of how close his association with the corporation or partnership.”

The motions will not be considered by this court.