Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: How can an Officer of Corp file Motion to set aside default judgment?

You have misunderstood the rules. Corporations can only appear in court represented by attorneys. While individuals can appear pro se (e.g. on their own behalf), corporations cannot. This is because a person would have to represent the interests of the corporation and, by definition, licensed attorneys are the only ones allowed to do this. There is an exception for small claims court, where attorneys are not allowed and where regular employees, officers, etc. may appear for their company.

Since the corp already has an attorney, he/she should file the motion. Unless you're in small claims (or are willing to live with the default) there is no alternative to having a lawyer do this.

Re: How can an Officer of Corp file Motion to set aside default judgment?

In the eyes of the law a corporation is a separate and distinct entity and must be represented by an attorney. For the officer to so act he or she will be considered practicing law without a license. More importantly, a motion of the type that you are considering is very technical and will not be granted unless all the I's are dotted and the T's crossed.

I suggest that if the judgment is large enough, that you hire a lawyer. If small, pay it off and get a satisfaction of judgment.

I do not practice in the S.F. area but would be happy to refer you to competent counsel.

Good luck.

Neil C. Newson

Re: How can an Officer of Corp file Motion to set aside default judgment?

Thanks for your inquiry.

It's well established in California law that a corporation cannot represent itself in anywhere but small claims court without an attorney. The Court of Appeal instructed in 1948 in Paradise v. Nowlin: "A corporation cannot appear in court by an officer who is not an attorney and it cannot appear in propria persona."

I hope this helps, but if you need more information, have more questions, or feel that you need legal representation, please feel free to email me directly at [email protected]. I'm happy to help in any way that I can.