Does my business need a lawyer?

Many people decide to create an entity like an LLC or corporation when they open a business. Creating an entity for your business has a lot of benefits, but it also has pitfalls. The biggest pitfall is that businesses cannot represent themselves in Court like individuals can. Unless you are in civil small claims court, a business MUST hire a lawyer to represent it. This is true whether it is bringing a lawsuit or defending against one. This applies to both civil and criminal suits.

Although you may hear people say that corporations are people, this is NOT true when a business wants to take legal action. If the owner or agent of the business tries to represent a business, then they are committing the unauthorized practice of law. This can lead to a lot of penalties. Usually, it means that the Court will not hear your case if you are the plaintiff or not listen to your defense if you are a defendant.

Small business owners frequently run into this issue when they create an entity like a LLC, purchases a property in the LLC’s name, and then rent out the property. If the landlord then wants to evict the tenant, then they need to bring the claim in the LLC’s name. This means they need an attorney, or the case can’t move forward.

This is also true if a property is cited by a city for a code violation, then this can be a criminal matter. If a business owns a property in Ohio, and it is cited by the city, it needs to hire a lawyer to represent it. If the business owner tries to represent the business, the court will not let them argue, and will find against the business.

By: Bridget Sciscento, Esq.