Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Nevada

Are there any precedents for recovering attorneys fees as a defendant in small claims court when required by law to have an attorney represent you?

The Las Vegas Justice Court Rule #16 states that if you are the defendant and you are a corporation or LLC you must be represented by an attorney. I would think there would be some precedent somewhere that if required by law to be represented by an attorney that those fees would be recoverable through a counter suit if the defense is successful.


Asked on 8/19/10, 2:18 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Corporations and LLC's must always be represented by attorneys. (In some states this requirement is waived in small claims courts. I don't know if Nevada is one of them.) By your logic, they should always be entitled to attorney fees if they win. That is not how the law works.

The reason corporations must be represented by counsel is that only individuals can represent themselves. A corporation can't represent itself; it has to send an individual to court as its representative. By definition, that individual would be practicing law on the corporation's behalf. Since only lawyers are allowed to practice law, only lawyers can represent corporations.

The need to hire counsel is thus a consequence of being a corporation, not a special burden that the law has imposed on corporations. When the founders of your business were deciding whether to be a corporation or adopt some other form, this is one of the factors they presumably into account. They decided that the benefits of being a corporation outweighed the costs. The corporation cannot now shift some of those costs to someone else.

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Answered on 8/24/10, 2:29 pm


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