Ellis v. Jones

Full title: MARVIN B. ELLIS, ADMINISTRATOR OF THE PHILEMON B. ELLIS ESTATE, Plaintiff…

Court: United States District Court, D. Utah

Date published: Oct 18, 2007

Case No: 1:07-CV-122 DAK (D. Utah Oct. 18, 2007)

Opinion

Case No: 1:07-CV-122 DAK.

October 18, 2007

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

DAVID NUFFER, Magistrate Judge

Marvin B. Ellis filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 purportedly on behalf of the Philemon B. Ellis Estate.¹ However, it is well-settled that an artificial entity such as an estate may appear in the federal courts only through licensed counsel.² Since there is no indication that Mr. Ellis is a licensed attorney, he may not represent the Philemon B. Ellis Estate in this case.

1 See docket no. 1, filed September 20, 2007.

2 Rowland v. California Men's Colony , 506 U.S. 194, 201-02 (1993); Tal v. Hogan , 453 F.3d 1244, 1254 (10^th Cir. 2006), cert. denied , 127 S. Ct. 1334 (2007); see also Iannoccone v. Law , 142 F.3d 553, 559 (2d Cir. 1998) (holding that non-attorney representative of estate may not proceed pro se in an action by the estate where estate has beneficiaries or creditors other than the representative); Pridgen v. Andresen , 113 F.3d 391, 393 (2d Cir. 1997) (same).

ORDER

The estate must be represented by a licensed attorney in order to proceed. Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that the estate must obtain licensed counsel, and counsel must enter an appearance within thirty days from the date of this order. Failure to do so will result in dismissal of the complaint.