Court Opinion

ID: 9847315
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:57:36.809606+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:07.059286
License: Public Domain

BAKES, Justice,
dissenting:
I dissent to the majority’s holding that Mr. Beck could not represent his corporation, of which he is the sole shareholder, sole officer, and presumably the sole director, in the administrative proceeding before the Industrial Commission. I am surprised that the majority cites, as its lead authority to support its holding, the case of Idaho State Bar v. IPUC, 102 Idaho 672, 637 P.2d 1168 (1981). In Idaho State Bar, the Court specifically stated that proceedings before a state commission “are quasi-judicial, and often involve matters more administrative than judicial in nature, [and] some relaxation of the traditional rule against the practice of law by lay persons is appropriate.” 102 Idaho at 676, 637 P.2d 1168. The Court ruled in that case that in a proceeding before a state commission the “representation of a sole proprietorship by the owner, or representation of a partnership by the partners, or representation of a corporation ... by the officers of those entities," does not constitute the unlawful practice of law in Idaho. Id. at 676, 637 P.2d 1168.
As a result of the Court’s decision today, you have one rule applying before the Public Utilities Commission and an entirely opposite rule for proceedings before the Industrial Commission. The Court does not explain why the sole owner and officer of a small family-held corporation can appear and represent the corporation before the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, but that same owner-officer cannot represent the same corporation before the Industrial Commission. There is no rational basis for that distinction, and the Court’s ruling today places the small family-held incorporated business involved in a proceeding before the Industrial Commission at a distinct disadvantage when compared with other litigants before the Industrial Commission who may have the ability to represent *273themselves, or can obtain free legal aid. Our decision in Idaho State Bar v. IPUC, supra, requires that this case be reversed and remanded to the Industrial Commission for a hearing in which Mr. Beck is allowed to represent his small family incorporated business, and to present evidence and cross examine witnesses. Basic fairness and due process require it.