United States v. 9.19 Acres of Land, Marquette Co., Mich.

• Decision Date: 22 October 1969
• Docket Number: No. 19310.,19310.
• Citation: 416 F.2d 1244
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. 9.19 ACRES OF LAND, MORE OR LESS, Situate IN MARQUETTE COUNTY, MICHIGAN, Beico, Inc., Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

416 F.2d 1244 (1969)

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. 9.19 ACRES OF LAND, MORE OR LESS, Situate IN MARQUETTE COUNTY, MICHIGAN, Beico, Inc., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 19310.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

October 22, 1969.

James C. Eastman, Pledger & Mahoney, Washington, D. C., for appellants.

Shiro Kashiwa, Asst. Atty. Gen., Edmund B. Clark, Charles N. Woodruff, Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., Harold D. Beaton, U. S. Atty., Grand Rapids, Mich., for appellee.

Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, CELEBREZZE and McCREE, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

This is an appeal of a condemnation award from the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, in which the Appellant received $100.00 from the Government for a taking of 9.19 acres of its land for an easement. The sole issues presented are: whether the District Court erred in refusing to allow the president of the Appellant corporation to represent the corporation pro se in the condemnation suit; or, in the alternative, whether it abused its discretion by refusing to grant a continuance in order that the Appellant might have time to retain counsel.

The United States condemned an easement over the land of the Appellant, a closely held Michigan corporation. The notice of condemnation was filed in 1966. Negotiations were conducted with the president of the corporation, however no agreement was reached as to value. On October 10, 1968, a trial was scheduled on the issue of just compensation. The Appellant's president, having learned only a week before that he could not argue his corporation's case pro se, tried in vain to retain licensed counsel to represent the Appellant, and he appeared at trial without counsel. The United States District Court ruled that a corporation could only be represented by licensed counsel, however it refused to grant a continuance so as to allow him to retain qualified counsel. The trial proceeded ex parte, and a judgment of $100.00 was entered for the Appellant.

The United States District Court was clearly correct in ruling that a corporate president may not represent his corporation before a federal court. 28 U.S.C. § 1654 (1964), which provides that "parties may plead and conduct their own cases personally or by counsel * * *.," has been uniformly construed to mean that a corporation cannot appear otherwise than through an attorney. See, e. g. Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. v. Continental Record Co., 386 F.2d 426 (2d Cir. 1967); Simbraw, Inc. v. United States, 367 F.2d 373 (3d Cir. 1966); Flora Construction Co. v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., 307 F.2d 413 (10th Cir. 1962), cert. denied, 371 U.S. 950, 83 S.Ct. 505, 9 L.Ed.2d 499 (1963), rehearing denied, 373 U.S. 919, 83 S.Ct. 1296, 10 L.Ed.2d 419 (1963).

The question remains whether the District Court abused its discretion by refusing to grant the Appellant a continuance in order that it have time to retain qualified counsel.

"The matter of continuance is traditionally within the discretion of the trial judge, and it is not every denial of a request for more time that violates due process even if the party fails to offer evidence or is compelled to defend without counsel. Contrariwise, a myopic insistence upon expeditiousness in the face of justifiable request for delay can render the right to defend with counsel

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