Next friend lacked standing, needed counsel

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted November 4, 2020 11:12 AM

Aries Sinclair relied on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 17(c)(2) (“a minor or an incompetent person who does not have a duly appointed representative may sue by a next friend”) in pursuing a pro se complaint on behalf of 85-year-old Morris Wren. But U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm concluded she didn’t have standing under the three-part test provided by Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149 (1990). And even if she did, “a purported next friend is prohibited from litigating pro se on behalf of another without the …

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