Sablock v. Modern Structures Painting

• Court: Superior Court of Maine
• Decided: December 14, 2022
• Docket: CUMcv-22-306
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT CUMBERLAND, ss. CIVIL ACTION DOCKET NO. CV­ JJ- ~o, PATRICIA SABLOCK, Plaintiff

V. ORDER

MODERN STRUCTURES PAINTING, JOHN RICHARDS, Defendants

Before the court are Plaintiffs request for default and Defendant's Motion for Entry of

Late Responsive Pleadings. The Complaint arises out of a dispute over renovations at the

Plaintiffs home. The Complaint alleges Plaintiff had a contract with Modem Structures Painting

LLC ("MSP"). Jolm Richards is the sole member. The Complaint names both MSP and Richards

as Defendants.

The Complaint was served on the Defendants on October 20, 2022. On November 10, the

Plaintiffs requested that the clerk enter a default. The court has not yet acted on that because on

the same date, Jolm Richards filed a Motion for Entry of Late Responsive Pleadings and an Answer

and Counterclaim. The court waited to see if there was a response to the Defendants motion. No

response has been filed and Richards represented he copied Plaintiffs counsel with the motion.

There being no response, the motion is granted.

There is one issue with the motion that the court should address. Because he is not an

attorney, Mr. Richard is barred from by Maine law from representing a corporation. 14 M.R.S

§807(1). Therefore, unless Richards meets one ofthe exceptions to the statute, he cannot represent

MSP. One exception allows an officer of the corporation to defend a civil action against a Maine

corporation that has 5 or fewer shareholders. 4 M.R.S. §807(3)(J)(emphasis supplied). The

1 provision does not specifically apply to a sole member limited liability corporation. Not having

heard from the parties on the issue, the court does not determine at this time whether the exception

applies to a sole member limited liability corporation. The court does point out, however, that the

statute only applies to a corporation that is defending a civil action. Here, Richards has filed a

counterclaim on behalf of MSP. By filing a counterclaim, MSP is bringing a separate claim of

relief and must retain counsel. Carey v. Indian Rock Corp., 2005 ME 6, !r'3 (Me. 2005). Without

counsel, the counterclaim will be dismissed. Id.

The court orders as follows:

The Motion for Entry of Late Responsive Pleadings is GRANTED. The clerk will not

enter a default and any objection to the timeliness of Defendants' Answer is waived.

Defendant MSP will either retain counsel or show cause why the counterclaim should not

be dismissed by January 15.

Either party may submit argument on whether John Richards may represent MSP on the

defence of Plaintiffs Complaint by Jan 15. If Richards retains counsel, the issue is moot.

This Order is incorporated on the docket by reference pursuant to M.R.Civ.P. 79(a).

DATE: fl/ /!fl/ Le Thomas R. McKeon Justice, Maine Superior Court