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Ask a Lawyer -- LLCs
LLC Question 123
Question:
I am an LLC and have a small claims case and the Judge sent me a letter that says"Prove Up" It claims I need legal council to represent my case but my Lawyer said an LLC is not a Corporation so I can represent myself. The Judge says I have to prove I am not an Corpoation how would I do this?
Response: Good question. I assume you are proceeding pro se as a non-lawyer on behalf of the LLC. Typically, only an individual is capable of proceeding pro se on behalf of himself and may not represent a separate legal entity such as a corporation of which the individual has an ownership interest.
An LLC is a separate legal entity in the nature of hybrid between a corporation and partnership. The potential argument is in the case of a single member LLC which, for tax purposes, can disregard their separate legal status allowing for the filing of tax returns as if they were a sole proprietorship. The argument would go that the tax treatment of a single member LLC should be respected for Illinois civil procedure purposes. Unfortunately, the only case I am aware of on the subject is Collier v. Cobalt LLC, 2002 WL 726640 at *1 (E.D. La. 2002) and it finds that even a single member LLC cannot be represented pro se by the sole LLC member. Here is a link to an article from the Illinois University School of law arguing that a sole LLC member should be able to represent the LLC pro se. Sorry but I think it is a tough argument to make.
Submitted: 08/17/2007; Jeff, Illinois
Response: 08/19/2007; JJR
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