## Facts

- Derrik Hagerman owned and ran Wabash Environmental Technologies, LLC (Wabash).
- Hagerman and Wabash were convicted of criminal violations of the Clean Water Act.
- Wabash was sentenced to five years’ probation and ordered to pay $250,000 restitution to a federal Superfund account plus a $4,000 special assessment.
- The government petitioned the district court, alleging Wabash violated probation by refusing to begin paying the ordered amounts.
- The government and Wabash reached an agreement under which Wabash would begin paying restitution and provide specified financial information; the district court dismissed the petition.
- After Wabash’s counsel withdrew, Hagerman (a nonlawyer) filed notices of appeal for himself and for Wabash from the dismissal order.

## Issues

1. Whether Hagerman could appeal the dismissal of the probation-violation proceeding when he was not a party to that proceeding and no order was entered against him.
2. Whether an LLC may appear in federal court on appeal through a nonlawyer owner/officer, or instead must be represented by licensed counsel.

## Decision

- The court dismissed Hagerman’s appeal because he was not a party to the probation-violation proceeding and the dismissal order did not name or bind him.
- The court dismissed Wabash’s appeal because an LLC, as a separate legal entity, may not litigate in federal court without representation by a licensed attorney; Hagerman could not represent Wabash pro se.

## Legal Principles

- Only a party to the proceeding (or a person directly bound and aggrieved by the order) may prosecute an appeal.
- A corporation may not litigate in federal court unless represented by licensed counsel.
- The same rule applies to a limited liability company because it is a distinct juridical entity separate from its owners and officers.
- An owner or officer who is not a lawyer cannot represent a business entity in federal litigation or on appeal, even if the entity has a single member.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit dismissed both appeals, holding that Hagerman lacked standing to appeal an order entered solely in Wabash’s probation-violation matter and that Wabash, as an LLC, could not proceed on appeal without licensed counsel.


United States v. Hagerman, 545 F.3d 579 (7th Cir. 2008)