Full question:
I am the owner of a LLC in Connecticut. One of my customers (AW) went bankrupt in Aug 2008. I was on the unsecured creditors committee. There was the lawyer who represented the committee (lawyer 1) and there was a lawyer that represented another member of the committee (lawyer 2). In Feb 2009, while consulting the committee in the settlement, the issue of layer 2 becoming the trustee to recover preferential transfers came up. At that time I asked what that meant, and expressed my concerns, and if I could be affected, at that time both attorneys assured me not to be concerned.In the spring of 2009 we received about 50% of our accounts receivable from AW. And a month latter we received about another 5% . In Nov 2009 I received a letter from lawyer 2 asking for repayment of preferential transfer. I stated that I felt these payments were in the normal course of business, as discussed in our Feb 2009 phone call, and wouldn't be paying back the money.On Mar 4 2009 I received a notice of adversary proceedings files by lawyer 2's lawyer (laywer 3) .My question is can I defend myself ? as stated earlier, my company is a LLC, if I try to defend myself, will I be practicing law without a license? I can see the end results here. My case is very strong, I have years of quickbooks records showing the relationship between my Company and AW. They rarely had a payable to us over 60 day from the date of invoice, and on several occasions we held up goods or services, until they came up to 30 days. We provided essential services (ordered by the state AG) right up to the end. However the old reliable of what will it cost to defend kicks in. If I hire an attorney (lawyer 4) the cost escalate quickly. If I do it myself, I may have a fighting chance
- Category: Bankruptcy
- Date:
- State: Connecticut
Answer:
Even though a corporation is a separate entity legally, though, it cannot represent itself in court. A corporate officer may represent the corporation only if he or she is a licensed attorney. The largest corporations tend to have in-house legal counsel, but most smaller enterprises use independent, outside counsel to update their corporate records, to offer legal advice on business plans and transactions, negotiate for them in business deals, and to represent them in court.
Generally, a non-attorney officer may not represent a corporation in a court proceeding. However, there is authority for such an officer to represent the corporation in arbitration.
Please see:
http://www.ilnb.uscourts.gov/Filing_without_Lawyer/creditors_proceedings_pro_se.pdf
http://www.gamb.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Hershner/04-03024.pdf
http://www.vsb.org/site/regulation/virginia-upl-opinion-206
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.
