Need help representing myself in Appeal, Please help!

[vitokool]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

I am suing an ex-girlfriend for money she owes me for a trip we were supposed to take, but she decided to hop in another guy's bed instead, and cancelled the trip. I took her to small claims court, but the judge was an absolute sonofabitch. I couldn't believe how hell bent he was against me before I even opened my mouth. I couldn't believe it. I had a contract in her writing, in which she stated she was waiting for me to produce proof that I did not take the trip on my own with another girl, and that after I produced it, she would pay me. Not only did I not take the trip and not use her tickets (that I paid for and she was supposed to pay me back for), I brought the requested proof to court from AirTran Airlines, as well as Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines which I had faxed to me.

So unbelievably, she tells the court that I harassed and stalked her after we broke up (which #1 is not true since I live 4 hours from her! and #2 had nothing to do with our financial agreement), and to my amazement the judgment comes in, in her favor. She even countersued me, and won that, but for no money, thankfully. I called the court and I spoke to the judge's secretary and told her what a disgrace for a judge that he is. He completely disregarded the evidence, the contracts, everything, believing her story, and ruled against me because he thinks I telephoned her too much after we broke up. It is just amazing to me that a judge can be this abusive in regards to power. Want to know something even better? I didn't speak to her for 6 weeks after we broke up. I waiting for my money and she never paid me, so I sued her. AFTER she gets the notice from the court, she goes to the local police and files an incident report that I was harassing her!!! She did that so she could bring something to court to try and show that I was some stalker or something!!! Even if it was true, what did it have to do with our financial agreement??? NOTHING. For the record, it wasn't true, I never stalked that idiot.

Anyway, my question is this... I have filed the appeal with the Prothonotary's Office in the district court. After the appeal is stamped with a docket # and returned to me, I have to mail the appropriate form to the defendent (my cheating ex) and the lower small claims court. After that I mail the certified mail receipts from those 2 mailings to the appeals court. Then it is advised that I get an attorney in order to get a court date, or they said I could go to the law library there to read how I can do it on my own. I am desperate for someone here, a lawyer who knows, to help me and tell me how I can do this on my own. I can't drive 4 hours from NY state to go there and do this since I am busy in graduate school. I need to get my money back from this ungrateful woman, who is heartless and moral free.

So if anyone here knows how I can get a court date and represent myself in the appeals court for a small claims case, please, please let me know. The Prothonotary's office is in Doylestown, PA, in Bucks County. Thank you for your help.

 

[tranquility]

So if anyone here knows how I can get a court date and represent myself in the appeals court for a small claims case, please, please let me know.

It's no longer a small claims case, it's a real case in a real court but for a small amount. Your case now starts over, except that things are not quite so informal. The time for you to do this pro per is going to start adding up quickly, just on learning what to do. This question you have is only the first of many you will have. You might as well find out the procees now. The four hour problem will be a big problem.

 

[vitokool]

I understand

I understand that this is now in a real court. I need this since the judge in the lower court was an absolute joke. He allowed my adversary's boyfriend and father to laugh every time I spoke, he didn't let me respond to all of her accusations. I mean, I had to wonder if this guy knew her and her family. It was that much of a joke. I don't have time to go learning the caveats of law and how I need to get a hearing date. All I need to know is if someone in here can tell me what I need to do once I get all the preliminary work done... i.e. notifying the defendent, and the lower court by certified mail that an appeal is in process. I mean, after that is done, all I need to do is work with the appeals court to get a hearing date. Someone please tell me what I need to do at that point. Thank you.

 

[BL]

google Court of Common Pleas , or go to the Law Library as you were advised .

Maybe your location has the Library on line .

No one here is going to walk you through the work .

 

[vitokool]

a question

Ok, I can't go to the law library there since it is 4 hours from me and I am in grad school. I just dont have the time or money to keep driving down there. So my question is, how many steps does it take to simply get a court date after I've filed all the necessary paper work, notified the defendent, the lower court etc? Can you give me an example of some of the things that I need to do? I just don't get it. What needs to be done once the paper work is filed and a date needs to be set?

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Ok, I can't go to the law library there since it is 4 hours from me and I am in grad school.

Well then, you have the option of hiring an attorney to do the grunt work for you .

I just dont have the time or money to keep driving down there.

Then you don't have the time for your appeal.

So my question is, how many steps does it take to simply get a court date after I've filed all the necessary paper work, notified the defendent, the lower court etc?

That depends on how many steps there are to the front door of the courthouse.

Can you give me an example of some of the things that I need to do?

yes

I just don't get it. What needs to be done once the paper work is filed and a date needs to be set?

Then you need an attorney. Plain and simple.

 

[vitokool]

example

Please give me an example of something an attorney will do at the point where I finish all the paper work and a court date needs to be set. The amount of money I am suing for would render getting an attorney pointless. It would defeat the purpose of me appealing the decision. I have to do this on my own, and I need someone who is gracious enough in a forum such as this to help get me going. If I can find the info online from a web site, or from a helpful person I would be very grateful.

 

[tranquility]

Look, the ones who have answered so far could get you the answer you seek in a fairly short time on the internet. I know I have some tools you may not, but I still bet the information is out there. Also, those who have answered answer a lot of questions, for free, for our own reasons. Mine, at least, include helping out people in difficult situations. Why am I not providing you the information?

Because I think you should give up chasing this white whale. I think the lawsuit is not a valid cause of action and your appeal will fail. I think you should take the loss as a lesson learned and move on. I think you don't like those answers.

However, if you really want to hurt this person who hurt you through the legal system, you're going to have to pay. Pay in money to an attorney or pay in time through travel and educating yourself on the law on the matter. I'm not going to help you with what appears to be a meritless lawsuit. Others may feel differently, but I bet that's why you are not receiving any answers to your question.

The only weird thing is how polite everyone is being. Playing nice is not the general custom or practice of the forum. For me, it's because it's clear how much you hurt. I think it's unfair what the person did to you. It don't think it's a tort or breach of contract, it is just what happens sometimes when you trust someone else and they let you down.

 

[vitokool]

Tranquility

Look, the ones who have answered so far could get you the answer you seek in a fairly short time on the internet. I know I have some tools you may not, but I still bet the information is out there. Also, those who have answered answer a lot of questions, for free, for our own reasons. Mine, at least, include helping out people in difficult situations. Why am I not providing you the information?

Because I think you should give up chasing this white whale. I think the lawsuit is not a valid cause of action and your appeal will fail. I think you should take the loss as a lesson learned and move on. I think you don't like those answers.

However, if you really want to hurt this person who hurt you through the legal system, you're going to have to pay. Pay in money to an attorney or pay in time through travel and educating yourself on the law on the matter. I'm not going to help you with what appears to be a meritless lawsuit. Others may feel differently, but I bet that's why you are not receiving any answers to your question.

The only weird thing is how polite everyone is being. Playing nice is not the general custom or practice of the forum. For me, it's because it's clear how much you hurt. I think it's unfair what the person did to you. It don't think it's a tort or breach of contract, it is just what happens sometimes when you trust someone else and they let you down.

As much as I appreciate your attention to this matter, I don't appreciate your asumptions. Let me give you some facts. We took a trip 2 years ago. We had to rebook the trip because she forgot about a wedding she had to go to, and we split the rebooking. Then we had to rebook it again because of something on my end, except this time, I paid for the whole thing. So when we decided to schedule this cruise and airfare, it was understood that if either of us had to cancel or rebook this trip, that person would be responsible for all fees. I was stuck with the fees because I happened to be the one to have the credit card. She owes me $500 in cash that I let her borrow that was never paid in addition to the $800 she owes me for the trip. She only gave me $200 of all this money. She wrote down, IN HER OWN WRITING, on a thank you card that she wants proof that I never went on the trip with someone else, and that she would pay me then! She went into court, making up garbage that I was stalking her, she lost weight, blablabla. The judge fell for it, and instead of looking at the facts... the receipts from Royal Caribbean, Air Tran, her own admission in writing, he decided he wanted to be my Dad and punish me with a decision in her favor, rather than being a fair and impartial judge. You wanna know something else? I explained the situation to the appeals court rep over the phone, and she tells me the lower district courts can be a joke, and that the appeals process will not tolerate the shenanigans that I was a victim of in the lower court (that includes the laughing father and boyfriend who she brought with her, and who were sitting in the back of the court room). Also consider the fact that this manipulative woman called me crying after we broke up, begging me for $3,050 so she wouldn't get deregistered from classes. I gave it to her, even while she still owed me money, expecting her to pay me the other money. She paid me the $3,050, but not the $1,400. She also, after 6 weeks, calls the police in her hometown to file a police report against me! I didn't talk to her for weeks! She filed this report right after she got the summons from the small claims court. She did it to have some false fire power in court. I bought this woman a $500 dog, fixed her air conditioning system on her car, fixed other numerous problems on her car, saving her hundreds of dollars. I let her borrow over $5,000 in cash, and the list goes on.

So if you want to question the merit of my decision to go after this lying cheating woman and the $1,400 that she owes me, then you need to hear the facts as well. Your post does not deter my determination to get my money. Surely someone on this site will be gracious enough to help me out, since right now I haven't the time to do so on my own. It is not laziness, or what have you, it is lack of time. Now, you may be aptly versed in the annals of law, and I am so versed in the annals of computer science, but right now, in my time of need, I am looking for someone with the latter's qualifications, who is willing to offer some help, instead of downright pessimism with a lack of the facts.

 

[vitokool]

The only weird thing is how polite everyone is being. Playing nice is not the general custom or practice of the forum. For me, it's because it's clear how much you hurt. I think it's unfair what the person did to you. It don't think it's a tort or breach of contract, it is just what happens sometimes when you trust someone else and they let you down.

Trust me, I am not hurt. This breakup was many months ago. If you are implying that I am hurt from being cheated on, you couldn't be more wrong. I am so happy, and thankful we are not together anymore. It was a mistake to be involved with someone 4 hours away. I am happily seeing someone else, who is much nicer, and not fake. I already paid the $181.25 to file the appeal. I am simply taking this as far as it can go. I am not a quitter, and this is not a vengeance thing as you imply. This is a right and wrong thing. A fair and impartial judge will take a look at the credit card bills I have, the receipts, and her admission in writing that she owes me this money. Just because this wasn't a contract between a couple corporations doesn't mean it is without merit my friend.

 

[Bretagne]

Why do you want to appeal the small claims court's decision? You are going to lose big time if you manage to file the proper pleadings. Here's what you are going to lose:

The filing fee. I don't know how much that will cost you, but at least $300;

The transcript cost. You can't successfully appeal without ordering up the transcript, that'll be at least $250;

Reasonable costs and disbursements. You'll get hit with paying reasonable costs and disbursements after you lose, that will potentially cost you $1000.

Attorney's fees and sanctions. No way to predict if you will get hit with these fees. Probably will get nailed with some. How much is anyone's guess. Range is probably $0-$10,000.

 

[tranquility]

What was your cause of action? Misrepresentation? Breach of contract? Whatever it is you are going to lose this case. While I don't think you will need to purchase a transcript (nor do I think one exists) for this "appeal", you will be out more money Cap'n. I hope you come up with something more before trial (or when it gets tossed in summary judgment) or you will be liable for abuse of process or malicious proscecution.

 

[David Jonathan]

wow ... holey crappy answers batman!

From what you were saying, I didnt' see anywhere, where you were asking for "Free lawyer" or whether or not your case had merrit.

And some of these people sure make it obvious they don't read the posts (like one guy commenting on how it'll cost you at least $300 to file your appeal, even tho you'd already stated you spent $181.25 on it)

I'm Curious as to what state you filed in - you say that you're in Pennsylvania, but you've talked about filing in NY ... guess I'm not 100% clear on that - also, which county (that probably doesn't matter)

There's a lot that you'll need to do for research, that can be done over the internet these days, going to the law library isn't always needed. Too bad these folks couldn't help you find one simple website ..

http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS

you'll want to scroll down to the "CVP" section, and go through that, research those laws, and procedures. It won't exactly show you what the paperwork should look like, however MS Word has a good template for doing all sorts of court style documents. Remember, now you're in "Pro Se" since you're acting on your own behalf.

I'm not going to offer you legal advice, I'm not a lawyer - however, as someone who's been through the civil court system a couple times, I know the "key words" to search for when looking for laws, regulations, and things of that nature.

I wish you the best of luck.

 

[tranquility]

So your advice is that he should start learing how the court system works? And, that you can learn a lot from the internet? Um, wasn't that advice given to him earlier? He didn't like that advice, he wanted a specific answer to a specific question. All you did was get a website that I'm sure a graduate student in something having to do with computers could have gotten on Google in a moment. Great job!

Oh, that's right. You added an insult to the other answers including a personal insult to another poster. Well done you. Way to add to the conversation. You'll find that if you stay on the forum for any length of time that posters don't always ask the right questions. Here, other posters decided to give something of themselves and not answer the question he asked, but gave him the solution to his problem. The OP can take or reject that advice. He rejected it and continued to insist on a specific answer. Some, including myself then told him why we weren't going to give him that answer. The reason was was because we want to help him and not hurt him. Encouraging a person to sue with a set of facts like this is irresponsible.

It may be a little(lot) before your time, but I remember a Rolling Stones song verse:

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need

 

[BL]

wow ... holey crappy answers batman!

Now that's funny , now go play with play dough .

From what you were saying, I didnt' see anywhere, where you were asking for "Free lawyer" or whether or not your case had merrit.

And some of these people sure make it obvious they don't read the posts

What ??

I can't drive 4 hours from NY state to go there and do this since I am busy in graduate school.

(like one guy commenting on how it'll cost you at least $300 to file your appeal, even tho you'd already stated you spent $181.25 on it)

I'm Curious as to what state you filed in - you say that you're in Pennsylvania, but you've talked about filing in NY ... guess I'm not 100% clear on that

What ??

I can't drive 4 hours from NY state to go there and do this since I am busy in graduate school.

- also, which county (that probably doesn't matter)

There's a lot that you'll need to do for research, that can be done over the internet these days, going to the law library isn't always needed. Too bad these folks couldn't help you find one simple website ..

http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS

you'll want to scroll down to the "CVP" section, and go through that, research those laws, and procedures.

They would be the wrong procedures .

It won't exactly show you what the paperwork should look like, however MS Word has a good template for doing all sorts of court style documents. Remember, now you're in "Pro Se" since you're acting on your own behalf.

I'm not going to offer you legal advice

,

I'm glad of that , He really would be going in circles .

I'm not a lawyer - however, as someone who's been through the civil court system a couple times, I know the "key words" to search for when looking for laws, regulations, and things of that nature.

I wish you the best of luck.