Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_23-cv-01564/USCOURTS-azd-2_23-cv-01564-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 710
Nature of Suit: Fair Labor Standards Act
Cause of Action: 29:206 Collect Unpaid Wages

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WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Stephen Jones,

Plaintiff,

v. 

Vector Technology Systems LLC, et al.,

Defendants.

No. CV-23-01564-PHX-DWL

ORDER 

On January 16, 2024, the Court clarified that “the complaint properly names 

individual trustees (by pseudonyms) rather than naming the Susan Cohn Revocable Trust 

as a party”—which was “correct because the Susan Cohn Revocable Trust lacks the 

capacity to be sued and could not be a proper party to this case”—but noted that 

“[u]nfortunately, the docket erroneously lists ‘Susan Cohn Revocable Trust’ as a party, 

including the Jane/John Doe trustees as mere descriptors” and ordered, inter alia, that the 

Clerk of Court “update the docket to reflect that the Susan Cohn Revocable Trust is not a 

defendant—instead, the proper defendant (for now) is John/Jane Doe, as trustee of the 

Susan Cohn Revocable Trust.” (Doc. 9.)

On April 22, 2024, Plaintiff filed an amended complaint, which named “Susan 

Cohn, as trustee of the Susan Cohn Revocable Trust” in place of John/Jane Doe. (Doc. 

17.)

However, the docket still erroneously lists “Susan Cohn Revocable Trust”—an 

entity that has never been named as a party in this case—as a defendant in this action and 

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includes the inaccurate assertion that the Susan Cohn Revocable Trust is the “trustee” of 

Susan Cohn herself. Susan Cohn should be listed on the docket as a defendant twice—

once as “an individual,” and once as “trustee of the Susan Cohn Revocable Trust.” The 

Clerk of Court is directed to correct this.

Furthermore, Susan Cohn, as trustee of the Susan Cohn Revocable Trust, must be 

represented by counsel—she cannot be represented by the Susan Cohn Revocable Trust, 

as is currently stated on the docket, nor can she be represented by herself as a pro se litigant. 

A nonlawyer cannot represent herself to the extent that she appears in her capacity as 

trustee for a trust. C.E. Pope Equity Tr. v. United States, 818 F.2d 696, 698 (9th Cir. 1987)

(“Rule 17(a) authorizes a trustee of an express trust to sue on behalf of the trust, without 

joining persons ‘for whose benefit the action is brought;’ the rule does not warrant the 

conclusion that a nonlawyer can maintain such a suit in propria persona. The reciprocal 

relation between the bar and the bench permits an exception only for a person acting 

personally.”).

In an (impermissible) attempt to proceed pro se,1 Ms. Cohn has filed a motion to 

dismiss for failure to state a claim (Doc. 23) and a motion to set aside the default entered 

against her as trustee (Doc. 24). Because these motions were not filed by competent 

counsel—and as discussed above, a trustee cannot proceed pro se on behalf of a trust—the 

motions must be struck.

The Court clarifies, however, that the motion to set aside the default conflates 

distinct legal concepts: (1) default and (2) default judgment. As of now, Ms. Cohn is in 

default, both as an individual and as trustee of the Susan Cohn Revocable Trust. (Docs. 9, 

22.) There is no default judgment yet. In fact, Plaintiff has not yet filed a motion for 

default judgment as to any of the Defendants in this action, although all of the remaining

Defendants have defaulted. Unless any Defendant (properly) files a motion to set aside the 

default, the next step in this litigation will be for Plaintiff to file a motion for default 

judgment.

1 To be clear, Susan Cohn could represent herself as an individual, if she chose to do 

so, but she cannot represent herself as a trustee.

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Accordingly,

IT IS ORDERED that the Clerk of Court update the docket to reflect that the Susan 

Cohn Revocable Trust is not a defendant—instead, the proper defendant is Susan Cohn, as 

trustee of the Susan Cohn Revocable Trust—and that no one is currently representing this 

Defendant.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the motion to dismiss (Doc. 23) and motion to 

set aside default (Doc. 24) are struck.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk mail a copy of this order to Susan 

Cohn, 3763 S Hudson Pl, Chandler, AZ 85286.

Dated this 18th day of June, 2024.

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