Opinion ID: 2074
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Representation of an Estate by a Pro Se Litigant

Text: A person who has not been admitted to the practice of law may not represent anybody other than himself. Lattanzio v. COMTA, 481 F.3d 137, 139 (2d Cir.2007); see also 28 U.S.C. § 1654. The law contains so many esoteric pitfalls for an untrained advocateeven one as capable as Mr. Guest has shown himself to bethat the risk of inadvertent waiver or abandonment of an issue is too high for us to allow a pro se litigant to represent another person. This rule exists to serve not only the interests of the represented party but also the interests of the adversaries and the court, Pridgen, 113 F.3d at 393, because the entire judicial system benefits from the professional knowledge of practicing attorneys, see Jones v. Niagara Frontier Transp. Auth., 722 F.2d 20, 22 (2d Cir.1983). Accordingly, we consider whether all parties before the court are properly represented even in cases where the parties themselves do not raise the issue. See Wenger v. Canastota Cent. Sch. Dist., 146 F.3d 123, 125 (2d Cir.1998), overruled on other grounds by Winkelman v. Parma City Sch. Dist., 550 U.S. 516, 127 S.Ct. 1994, 167 L.Ed.2d 904 (2007). We have previously held that an administr[ator] or execut[or] of an estate may not proceed pro se when the estate has beneficiaries or creditors other than the litigant. Pridgen, 113 F.3d at 393. Where there are other beneficiaries, an action cannot be described as the litigant's own, because the personal interests of the estate, other survivors, and possible creditors... will be affected by the outcome of the proceedings. Iannaccone v. Law, 142 F.3d 553, 559 (2d Cir.1998). But we have reserved the question of whether an administrator or executor of an estate may proceed pro se when the estate has no creditors and no beneficiaries other than the administrator. See Pridgen, 113 F.3d at 393. [4] Under New York law, Mr. Guest's first claim, a wrongful death action, is brought... on behalf of the decedent's distributees. George v. Mt. Sinai Hosp., 47 N.Y.2d 170, 176, 417 N.Y.S.2d 231, 390 N.E.2d 1156 (1979); see N.Y. Estates, Powers & Trusts Law (EPTL) § 5-4.1. His second claim, for the injuries Kristine sustained, is brought on behalf of all of the estate's beneficiaries. See EPTL § 11-3.2. When Mr. Guest brought his appeal, his wife was both a distributee and a beneficiary of Kristine's estate. Were that still the case, Mr. Guest would be unable to represent the estate. But, after argument, Mrs. Guest disclaimed any legal interest in Kristine's estate, and Mr. Guest affirmed that the estate has no creditors. As a result, we face the question left open in Pridgen: may the administrator of an estate appear pro se if the estate has no other beneficiaries, distributees, or creditors? We hold that the administrator and sole beneficiary of an estate with no creditors may appear pro se on behalf of the estate. It is only a legal fiction that assigns the sole beneficiary's claims to a paper entitythe estaterather than the beneficiary himself. Accordingly, pro se representation is consistent with our jurisprudence both on the right to self-representation and on the prohibition of appearances by non-attorneys on behalf of others. Because the administrator is the only party affected by the disposition of the suit, he is, in fact, appearing solely on his own behalf. This being so, the dangers that accompany lay lawyering are outweighed by the right to self-representation, which we have described as a right of high standing, not simply a practice to be honored or dishonored by a court depending on its assessment of the desiderata of a particular case. O'Reilly v. N.Y. Times Co., 692 F.2d 863, 867 (2d Cir.1982). Mr. Guest, therefore, is capable of proceeding in this appeal, and we may turn to the merits of his claims.