Georgia Corporations MUST be represented by an attorney in Courts
Many people establish corporations in Georgia and other states to reduce their personal liability. With all of the benefits afforded to corporations, there are also some burdens, especially in the legal realm. One such burden is the requirement that an attorney represent a corporation in court. This constraint is discussed and explained in the 1997 Georgia Supreme Court case Eckles d/b/a Atlanta Technology Group v. Atlanta Technology Group, Inc., 267 Ga. 801 (1997). (The Court does specify that this principle does not apply to all non-corporate business owners.) In the Eckles case, a corporation was represented in the lawsuit by one if its corporate officers who was not licensed to practice law.
A corporation, though considered to be a person under Georgia law, can only act through its agents, while a natural person can represent himself in court. A person representing a corporation in a Georgia court is clearly acting in a representative legal capacity, which worried the Georgia Supreme Court: “The qualifications of the individual "representing a corporation ... in court is one of vital judicial concern. Such person is clearly engaged in the practice of law in a representative capacity. Thus, it is clear that permitting a corporation to be represented by a layman in a court of record would constitute a major exception to the requirement that a legal representative be a licensed attorney who is subject to the authority of the courts of which he or she is an officer. Indeed, there appears to be no reason why the prohibition against legal representation by a layman in a court of record should not apply when the party represented is a corporation rather than a natural person.”
The Court also remained aware of its role as the governing body for the practice of law in Georgia, and rejected creating an exception to its rule that only a lawyer could represent another person in a court proceeding. This is because the practice law is a privilege and not an absolute right, which results in the responsibilities lawyers owe not only their clients, but also the courts. “To allow a corporation to maintain litigation and appear in court represented by corporate officers or agents only would lay open the gates to the practice of law for entry to those corporate officers or agents who have not been qualified to practice law and who are not amenable to the general discipline of the court.”
