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A comment on Terrorist watchlist exposed via misconfigured Elasticsearch cluster. Parent comment

Re:Terrorist watchlist exposed via misconfigured Elasticsear... by tinalumfoil on Wednesday August 18, 2021 @03:52PM (#28226266)
> a civil court cannot prohibit a party from having legal representation, which is what your comment seems to suggest.

> https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp

This is a good point for federal cases, but I meant my comment to cover civil action in state courts too. These are the courts that are most likely to affect someone's life. For instance in California small claims courts you are not allowed to be represented.

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Re:Terrorist watchlist exposed via misconfigured Elasticsear... by Spooky23 on Wednesday August 18, 2021 @04:36PM (#28226763)
That’s by design to make justice more accessible. IIRC, you can petition the judge to adjourn the case and move it to normal court.

Also, I believe in small claims as a defendant you can appoint an attorney to represent you. I sued a tow operator in small claims court and the dude who showed up was definitely an attorney.

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Re:Terrorist watchlist exposed via misconfigured Elasticsear... by derefr on Wednesday August 18, 2021 @09:29PM (#28229329)
> I sued a tow operator in small claims court and the dude who showed up was definitely an attorney.

That might be because you were suing a company, though. How would a company "represent itself"? Get the board of directors in?

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Re:Terrorist watchlist exposed via misconfigured Elasticsear... by owl_troupe on Thursday August 19, 2021 @03:30PM (#28238248)
Correct -- In many jurisdictions, corporations cannot proceed pro se. They must retain counsel.

As far as a company speaking for itself, a corporate representative is often designated to speak for and bind the company in any civil action.

See, e.g., Federal Rule 30(b)(6): https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_30

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Re:Terrorist watchlist exposed via misconfigured Elasticsear... by true_religion on Wednesday August 18, 2021 @09:42PM (#28229389)
Lots of times they just send an executive. See the Uber civil cases.
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Re:Terrorist watchlist exposed via misconfigured Elasticsear... by aidenn0 on Wednesday August 18, 2021 @07:15PM (#28228375)
Small claims courts have very limited powers though. They cannot impose any sanction except a small amount of remuneration.
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