Ellis v FJM Property Pty Ltd

In *Ellis v FJM Property Pty Ltd*, the applicant, Ms Ellis, brought proceedings against the respondent, FJM Property Pty Ltd, alleging disability discrimination in contravention of the *Disability Discrimination Act 1992* (Cth) concerning access to premises, and the provision of goods, services, and facilities. The matter came before Judge Antoni Lucev in the Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether a director of the respondent corporation, who was not a legal practitioner, could appear on behalf of the company. This required the Court to consider the principles governing the grant of leave for a non-lawyer to represent a corporation, and whether such an appearance would be inappropriate in the circumstances of the case.

Judge Lucev considered the relevant provisions of the *Federal Court Rules 2011* (Cth) and established case law concerning the representation of corporations. His Honour noted that while a corporation can generally be represented by a director, leave is required if the director is not a legal practitioner. The Court must be satisfied that granting leave would not be contrary to the interests of justice. In this instance, His Honour found that the director's proposed appearance would be inappropriate, particularly given the nature of the proceedings and the potential for complexity in legal argument and evidence presentation. The Court determined that the interests of justice would be better served by the respondent being represented by a qualified legal practitioner.

Consequently, leave for the director to appear on behalf of FJM Property Pty Ltd was refused.