Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Georgia

Re: Why pay a lawyer 33% ?

No. That would be practicing law without a license. The only time you can do that is when you are representing yourself personally. Your corporation is a separate legal entity.

Re: Why pay a lawyer 33% ?

I may respectfully disagree with the other response. An individual can always represent himself in court. An individual cannot represent another person in legal matters unless the individual is a lawyer. In the case of a corporation, it is somewhat more complicated. But as a general matter, I think an agent or employee can represent the corporation; the agent is an extension of the corporation, and is not a third-party. When you say "my corporation," it is not clear whether you are the owner, president, employee or all of the above. But assuming an appropriate degree of responsibility and control, I think you probably can. In actual practice, I have not seen this very much. The only thing that comes to mind are when residential landlords and furniture rental companies file small claims actions to eject tenants or recover property or obtain judgments. They usually prosecute the claims through an employee, not a lawyer. There may be some distinction between small claims court and Superior Court, and I may be missing something, but my inclination is that you can represent your corporation. Now, another issue, which is really suggested by the Title to you question, is why pay 33%. This is really an equally important question. You may recover more, even taking into account the fee, with a lawyer. The technicalities of admitting evidence, and the proper measure of damages, just to name a couple of examples, are very difficult for non-lawyers. Also, many judges do not like pro-se litigants, and you may receive a bias. good luck.

Re: Why pay a lawyer 33% ?

Your post suggested that you are in Georgia. In Georgia, the answer lies somewhere in between the two previous answers given to this question. It is correct that an individual may always represent himself in court. However, an individual who is not a lawyer may not represent another person in court. Corporations are considered in the law to be "individuals" separate and apart from their agents, officers and employees. Therefore, a non-lawyer generally is not authorized to represent a corporation in court, even if the individual is the owner and sole employee of the corporation. Courts have carved out exceptions to this rule, allowing individuals to represent corporations in various courts. These exceptions often made it confusing to know exactly when an individual could and could not act on behalf of a corporation. In 1997, the Georgia Supreme Court clarified the issue of whether or not a non-lawyer representative of a corporation could represent itself. Eckles v. Atlanta Technology Group, Inc., 267 Ga. 801, 485 S.E.2d 22. The court held that corporations could represent themselves in (1) magistrate courts (small claims court), (2) administrative tribunals (such as unemployment hearings) and (3) most city and municipal courts (like traffic court). The court decided that in other courts, corporations would have to enlist a licensed attorney to litigate their claims.