Pro Se Question

Attorney is not an option at this point. I have been a pro se plaintiff in both federal and state court in the past, but I was simply representing myself. Now, I need to file a suit in state court for breach of contract, etc. In this instance both my wife and myself were parties to the contract. Can I file as Mr. and Mrs. John Doe, pro se and represent us that way, or as John Doe and Jane Doe, where we are both listed as plainitffs, pro se. My question is how do I file a suit as a pro se litigant with both of us as plaintiffs and yet I do the representing? My wife will in all likelyhood be the main witness at trial since she wrote all the checks, yet I do not want to put her in position to be attacked by the judge himself, as some judges are prone to do against pro se litigants.

Any advice or suggestions welcome, or perhaps someone can point me toward some research on the matter?

Any help on this will be greatly appreciated.

You can certainly represent yourself, and your interests. However, you cannot do so for your wife. All because you are married doesn't give you a greater authority to represent someone else's interests. Simply, you cannot represent someone else.

You can, however, "ghost write" a complaint list yourself, In Propria Persona, and your wife's name, In Propria Persona.

Thanks Westside Law, but after looking at Blacks, I would certainly appreciate a little more info on this.

Does that mean I can file one complaint with both our names listed, with signatures like this:

John Doe, Propria Persona

Jane Doe, Propria Persona

A natural person may represent himself or herself in propria persona. [Abar v. Rogers (1981) 124 Cal.App.3d 862, 865, 177 Cal.Rptr. 655, 656; see also 28 USCA § 1654--right to self-representation in federal civil cases] But, you cannot represent your wife. Doing so would be considered the "Unlawful Practice of Law." She must either represent herself, or obtain legal counsel.

Yes, you can file a single Complaint showing the Plaintiffs' names as you've demonstrated above.

Thanks Westside Law,

I really understand what you are saying and I would, of course, represent myself and let my wife represent herself. Pleadings, motions, etc would be filed with both signatures. But I personally can not figure out how a judge would manage both of us presenting the same case before a jury. Novel idea maybe, but wouldn't that be unfair to the defendants, a jury gets to hear the same case twice? I could certainly see where it would be beneficial to us to be able to present virtually the same thing to a jury. Gives them a better chance to understand our causes of action and the second person going would have a chance to correct mistakes made by the first.

For example, my wife is a little naive, and has no prior experience with legal issues or construction matters. She is, however, intelligent, very capable of learning, knows the facts of this case as well as I do, and I figure I will have at least a couple of years before it gets to trial to help her learn.

Have you (or anyone else here) every known of this to happen before, and how a judge handled it? How do you imagine a judge might handle it? Other than the normal known foolish chances taken by a pro se litigant, do you see any other possible traps? It has been my experience that a defendant's attorney when knowing he does not have a viable defense, will strictly use the pro se litigants ignorance of law as his defense.

If you and your wife are parties to the same contract, you as the husband are, in essence, representing her interests as well!! As a married couple, by filing a lawsuit in which you both are Plaintiffs, you can do all the research and have the same priviledges as a lawyer in the litigation of your case. Perhaps you know things that your wife is not aware of so therefore you can protect her interests as well with the knowledge you may have. Most states regard a married couple as one! Therefore, you can litigate in Pro Per on her behalf legally or she can you!! If you and your wife are both parties to a contract, you can both be plaintiffs and you can each ask for damages for each cause of action! I am currently in Pro Per litigation and my wife and I are both plaintiffs in this case! I am the one who drafted the lawsuit, I am the one who responded to the motions. When it comes time to go to court, I will be the one who argues the case!! This in essence takes care of my wife's interests as well!!

I am the sole member of LLC and want to appear pro se. I read a lot online and found that many states dont allow LLC member to appear pro se on behalf of the LLC, it will ahve to go for a counsel.
Is there any way/ any arguments that I can appear pro se as the sole llc member?

THanks,
N.