Opinion ID: 187459
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Striking Order

Text: First, both Advantage and Wolff contend the district court erred in affirming the bankruptcy court's order striking Advantage's Objection. When a court of appeals hears an appeal from an order of a district court that resolved an appeal from an order of the bankruptcy court, the court of appeals `sits as a second court of review and applies the same standards as the district court.' 1 Collier on Bankruptcy ¶ 5.11 (15th ed. rev.2009) (quoting S. Technical Coll. v. Hood, 89 F.3d 1381, 1383 (8th Cir.1996)); accord In re KMart Corp., 381 F.3d 709, 712-13 (7th Cir.2004); In re Bogdan, 414 F.3d 507, 510 (4th Cir.2005); see United States v. Spicer, 57 F.3d 1152, 1159 (D.C.Cir.1995) (district court reviews bankruptcy court's grant of summary judgment de novo, and court of appeals applies same standard in reviewing district court's affirmance). Accordingly, we review the bankruptcy court's Striking Order itself and we do so for abuse of discretion. See Jackson v. Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, 101 F.3d 145, 150 (D.C.Cir.1996) (Our review of the district court's ... grant of the [defendant's] motion to strike is for abuse of discretion.). We conclude the bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion. It has been the law for the better part of two centuries ... that a corporation may appear in the federal courts only through licensed counsel. Rowland v. Cal. Men's Colony, 506 U.S. 194, 201-02, 113 S.Ct. 716, 121 L.Ed.2d 656 (1993) (citing Osborn v. President of Bank of United States, 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 738, 829, 6 L.Ed. 204 (1824)); see also Bristol Petroleum Corp. v. Harris, 901 F.2d 165, 166 n. 1 (D.C.Cir.1990) (As a corporation, [defendant] could not appear pro se.  (citing Commercial & R.R. Bank of Vicksburg v. Slocomb, Richards & Co., 39 U.S. (14 Pet.) 60, 10 L.Ed. 354 (1840))). Under this well-established rule, Wolff was ineligible to represent Advantage in a legal capacity [5] and the bankruptcy court correctly rejected the legal filing Wolff submitted on Advantage's behalf. Striking a document that was filed unlawfully falls easily within the range of permissible alternatives that were available to the court so as to be within its discretion. Jackson, 101 F.3d at 150; see Donovan v. Road Rangers Country Junction, Inc., 736 F.2d 1004, 1005 (5th Cir.1984) (corporation's co-defendant and sole shareholder declined to hire counsel to represent the corporation so the district court properly struck the defenses of the corporation); Strong Delivery Ministry Ass'n v. Bd. of Appeals of Cook County, 543 F.2d 32, 33 (7th Cir.1976) (affirming dismissal of complaint filed by non-lawyer corporation president). The appellants argue that the bankruptcy court should have selected a less severe sanction than striking the Objection, pointing to several cases in which we have discussed dismissal as an appropriate sanction for misconduct. See Appellants' Br. at 16-17. These cases are inapposite for two reasons. First, the bankruptcy court did not strike Advantage's Objection as a sanction for misconduct but because Wolff as a non-lawyer was not authorized to file it on the corporation's behalf. Second, the court did not dismiss the action or otherwise terminate Advantage's involvement in it. The court merely struck a single document that should not have been accepted for filing. Advantage was free to continue participating in the bankruptcy proceeding by obtaining legal counsel to represent it at the December 21, 2007 hearing or to seek reconsideration of the settlement approval thereafter, making the same arguments in bankruptcy court Advantage made in district court and here. Instead, foregoing available remedies in the bankruptcy court, Advantage filed a notice of appeal to the district court, where it faced the heavy burden of demonstrating abuse of discretiona burden it could not carry. Because the bankruptcy court acted within its discretion in striking the Objection, we affirm the district court's affirmance of the Striking Order.