PRO SE APPELLEE NEVER SENT ME PAPERWORK and is wasting court time and resources.

[NOMOREPROSE]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I am a new attorney that jumped in the case in the beginning of the "appeal" stage. However, the appellee never claimed the certified letter at the post office so it was returned to our office where it sat for weeks. During this time, the PRO SE plaintiff got our appeal dismissed, but never sent us a letter or notice stating it will be dismissed. NOW, she is objecting to our petition and making up all these lies about how she sent the paperwork to the actual defendant and wasting the courts resources and time by fighting us. How do other attorneys deal with PRO Se litigants. Never learned much about this in law school. /thanks and nice to find a forum of other members!

 

[sandyclaus]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I am a new attorney that jumped in the case in the beginning of the "appeal" stage. However, the appellee never claimed the certified letter at the post office so it was returned to our office where it sat for weeks. During this time, the PRO SE plaintiff got our appeal dismissed, but never sent us a letter or notice stating it will be dismissed. NOW, she is objecting to our petition and making up all these lies about how she sent the paperwork to the actual defendant and wasting the courts resources and time by fighting us. How do other attorneys deal with PRO Se litigants. Never learned much about this in law school. /thanks and nice to find a forum of other members!

You DO realize that the majority of responders here are non-attorney volunteers, right? Perhaps even a few of those pro se litigants you are trying to figure your way around. I honestly do not believe this is the place for your question to receive the kind of attention you're looking for.

I suggest that you network with other attorneys and figure out how THEY handle these situations.

 

[NOMOREPROSE]

Thanks Sandy, I understand I've been admitted since 2007 but stayed home to raise the kiddies, so haven't networked much and I'm only getting back in the game to help a friend of the family. Thanks for your kind suggestions !!!

 

[conflict101]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I am a new attorney that jumped in the case in the beginning of the "appeal" stage. However, the appellee never claimed the certified letter at the post office so it was returned to our office where it sat for weeks. During this time, the PRO SE plaintiff got our appeal dismissed, but never sent us a letter or notice stating it will be dismissed. NOW, she is objecting to our petition and making up all these lies about how she sent the paperwork to the actual defendant and wasting the courts resources and time by fighting us. How do other attorneys deal with PRO Se litigants. Never learned much about this in law school. /thanks and nice to find a forum of other members!

I say that you need to realize that an individual has a right to be pro se and to understand that they are personally tied to their case, so little things to them they are going to take personally. They got the appeal dismissed, so what I presume the petition you complain they are objecting about is to get the appeal reinstated???????? If so, what kind of objections are they making? If they are truly lies and not valid, don't you think the judge will see this and grant the petition based on your reasons???

I think when dealing with PRO se the main thing you need to remember is that they are emotionally attached to the case, you are somewhat detached and can have a clearer frame of mind. Extend them the courtesy you would counsel, because some judges are very friendly to Pro se and will disregard their mistakes while having different expectations of you at times it seems.

 

[tranquility]

Um...they have this thing called civil procedure, you might give that a try. They also have this thing called ethics and, although it recognizes all attorneys need to start somewhere, it also insists they know or can find out the knowledge needed to competently represent their client. (See Rule 1.1)

 

[NOMOREPROSE]

Update

I did manage to get this appeal reinstated but unfortunately my client lost at arbitration and does not want to proceed to trial. I cannot believe I got beat by a prose litigant for a small claim... Does this happen often? She was a secretary and her pleadings looked like they were written by someone else and that she used a ghost writer. I still do not think that people should represent themselves on ANY matter and this pro se litigant did things on purpose just to extend the process and wasted court resources and the arbitration panel did not see through her shenanigans.

 

[quincy]

I did manage to get this appeal reinstated but unfortunately my client lost at arbitration and does not want to proceed to trial. I cannot believe I got beat by a prose litigant for a small claim... Does this happen often? She was a secretary and her pleadings looked like they were written by someone else and that she used a ghost writer. I still do not think that people should represent themselves on ANY matter and this pro se litigant did things on purpose just to extend the process and wasted court resources and the arbitration panel did not see through her shenanigans.

Does it happen often that a pro se litigant beats an attorney in court? Yes, if the pro se litigant has a good case and/or the defendant does not have a good case, or if one or the other is represented by an incompetent attorney.

You might want to take the advice offered you earlier by sandyclaus and tranquility?

 

[TheGeekess]

I did manage to get this appeal reinstated but unfortunately my client lost at arbitration and does not want to proceed to trial. I cannot believe I got beat by a prose litigant for a small claim... Does this happen often? She was a secretary and her pleadings looked like they were written by someone else and that she used a ghost writer. I still do not think that people should represent themselves on ANY matter and this pro se litigant did things on purpose just to extend the process and wasted court resources and the arbitration panel did not see through her shenanigans.

In other words: Wah! I got beat!

 

[TigerD]

In 2014, you had mental problems: https://forum.freeadvice.com/social-security-disability-ssi-law-70/not-knowing-when-i-unable-work-since-i-laid-off-because-my-delusions-602653.html#post3235464

This thread was started in 2013 and you now say you are practicing law -- again.

I sure hope you are still delusional.

TD

 

[quincy]

The earlier threads created by NOMOREPROSE are interesting.

For those out there who would rather represent themselves in court than hire an attorney, or for those in states where attorneys are not allowed in small claims courts, here is a link to the National Center for State Courts with resources for pro se litigants: http://www.ncsc.org/Topics/Access-and-Fairness/Self-Representation/Resource-Guide.aspx

I have some statistics lying around somewhere that show the overall success rate of pro se litigants, the statistics of which indicate that they tend to do pretty well for themselves, for a whole host of reasons (not the least of which is that most pro se's know better than to represent themselves in courts higher than small claims and are often up against likewise-lawyerless opponents).

If I can locate the information, I will provide it. It could make NOMOREPROSE feel better about her loss.