United States of America v. Reading et al

Filing 91

ORDER denying 85 trustee Terry I. Major's emergency motion to stay proceedings pending interlocutory appeal. Signed by Judge Frederick J Martone on 08/28/2012.(JAMA)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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United States of America,
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Plaintiff,
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vs.
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James Leslie Reading, et al.,
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Defendants.
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No. CV 11-00698-PHX-FJM
ORDER

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The court has before it Terry I. Major's emergency motion to stay proceedings

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pending interlocutory appeal (doc. 85), plaintiff's opposition (doc. 88), and Major's reply

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(doc. 89). Major is the trustee of defendant Fox Group Trust. The court struck his notice of

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appearance on behalf of the trust on July 3, 2012 (doc. 79) and denied his motion for

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reconsideration (doc. 81). He now seeks to stay proceedings until his interlocutory appeal

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of the court's July 3 order is resolved.

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The order regarding Major's representation of the trust did not adjudicate the claims
against any defendant and did not end this action. It is not a final order subject to appeal.

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Nor does the order appealed here fall into one of the categories of appealable

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interlocutory orders under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a). The order does not involve "a controlling

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question of law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion and that an

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immediate appeal from the order may materially advance the ultimate termination of the

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litigation." 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b).

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Major fails to address these issues and instead continues to argue that C.E. Pope

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Equity Trust v. United States, 818 F.2d 696 (9th Cir. 1987), does not apply to the facts of this

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case. But C.E. Pope controls here and prevents a non-attorney trustee from representing the

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trust pro se. As the court stated when denying Major's motion to reconsider, "[r]ights

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purportedly granted in a trust agreement cannot override federal law" (doc. 81). Natural

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persons may always represent themselves. But artificial entities, like trusts, must always be

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represented by counsel. When a person chooses to take advantage of separate entity status,

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the person accepts the downside of that separate status – the person is not the entity and

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cannot represent it.

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IT IS ORDERED DENYING trustee Terry I. Major's emergency motion to stay

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proceedings pending interlocutory appeal (doc. 85).

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DATED this 28th day of August, 2012.

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