Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Nobody can speak for him in court except his lawyer. Why doesn't he have one? Either he can afford a lawyer or he can afford to lose the case. One or the other.

Mr. Stone is correct. Under the circumstances you present, your husband probably can not be successful in the case. If the other side has an attorney, they will raise objections after objections to frustrate your husband. He needs to hire an attorney.

The court would allow someone to "speak for him" if he didn't speak English -- he would be entitled to an interpreter, including a sign-language interpreter if he were mute. Also, in cases where the party is legally incompetent, which probably isn't the situation here, the court can appoint a "guardian ad litem" - this happens where the party is a minor, for example. See Code of Civil Procedure sections 372-376. There is also a provision in the Code of Civil Procedure allowing defense by a spouse in husband and wife are sued together, CCP 371, but I have not researched it to see if it covers this situation, nor am I sufficiently familiar with the process for appointment of a guardian ad litem.

If your husband is the plaintiff, he perhaps could have, initially, assigned his claim to someone else, or given someone a power of attorney to sue on his behalf.

So, there are some alternatives, but the best by far is to obtain his own lawyer, maybe even just to make this one appearance.

You didn't describe the type of appearance. If it is only a case management conference, as is likely in the early stages of a lawsuit, the two of you might want to sit in the judge's courtroom during CMCs in other cases to get a sense of how they go - typically less than two minutes long, no witnesses, no testimony, just the judge asking some basic questions about procedure -- do you want to try mediation, do you want a jury trial, when will discovery be completed, etc.

Still, real-estate cases usually involve high-dollar stakes, and being self-represented is risky enough when you are self-confident and eloquent. Get a lawyer.