holding that an attempt by a non-attorney executrix, acting pro se, to represent the interest of an estate in a wrongful-death action constituted the unauthorized practice of law, and as such, the pro se complaint was a nullity
How later courts described this case
- holding that an attempt by a non-attorney executrix, acting pro se, to represent the interest of an estate in a wrongful-death action constituted the unauthorized practice of law, and as such, the pro se complaint was a nullity
- holding that Alabama law “prohibits a nonattorney executor or personal representative from representing an estate before a court of law. Thus, the complaint personally filed by Donna Stewart as executrix was a nullity.”
- explaining that the right to represent oneself expressed in Article I, § 10, of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, "does not extend to the representation of interests other than those of the pro se litigant"
- holding that the personal representative of an estate, a nonattorney, could not file a complaint on behalf of the estate
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
COOK, Justice
(dissenting).
Although I did not participate in the original decision in this case, after consid *783 ering the application for rehearing, I have concluded that I concur in the views expressed by Justice Kennedy in his dissent.