Can my son stand up for me in court if I am being sued by renters for damages?

If you are operating your rental business as an LLC, you must get an attorney. If you try to represent the LLC (or corporation) you will be considered as engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. Using an LLC is common in the rental industry so this is just an assumption being made. If you are simply a husband and wife team, personally managing your rental business, then you and/or your husband can represent yourselves, but your son could not for the same reason you could not represent your own LLC. He would be considered as engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. You will also want to watch for your tenants suing you to make sure they are not doing the same. Is a family member representing them against you? Unless they are attorneys, that would be the unauthorized practice of law as well, and you would want to object to that. Depending upon the claims made, many provisions under the Residential Landlord Tenant Act have attorney's fees provisions as well. If this is a residential issue, you might be able to recover your fees and costs if you prevail, which means it may be worthwhile consulting with an attorney and hiring one to assist you. If this is a commercial tenancy, your contract may also contact a fee recovery provision, which would also mean you may want to consider hiring an attorney to assist you. If this is in small claims court, attorneys are typically not allowed, but you may want to consult with an attorney and spend some money to help you prepare your case as best as possible.