Pro se litigant Help

[Taxing Matters]

According to GUIDE FOR PRO SE LITIGANTS:

Generally, pro se litigants are held to the same standards of professional responsibility as trained attorneys. It is a pro se litigant’s responsibility to become familiar with and to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (the “Local Rules”). These rules set forth the general procedural requirements for litigating cases in federal court.

You got that guide from the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico's Guide for Pro Se Litigants. That court is a federal district court, not a New Mexico state district court. Your appeal from a decision of a New Mexico state or local government agency goes to a state district court, not the federal district court. Thus, the guide you quoted from will not apply to your state court proceeding. There are some tips in there that are useful for pro se litigants in any court, but a lot are specific to federal court, and since you are not going to be in federal court that guide could lead you astray if you try to use it for your appeal in state district court. In other words, when researching stuff for your case, make sure you are looking at rules for NM courts and not federal courts.

 

[quincy]

Here again is a link to legal assistance resources available in New Mexico:
https://www.lawhelpnewmexico.org/node/28/helpful-links

The time you have to appeal is short and you appear to be wasting this time by trying to have us answer questions the answers of which may or may not apply to you, because we do not have the information needed to guide you successfully.

You have made it clear, and I understand, that you do not want to discuss your case on a public forum. That’s fine. You should seek legal assistance in your local area, then, so you can feel more comfortable explaining the details.

Good luck.

 

[pro.se.litigant]

Your appeal from the NM administrative agency decision generally goes to NM state district court. In this role the district court is functioning like an appeals court, not a trial court. As a result, there would be no jury and no trial. Rather, the proceeding is done as a review of the record of the administrative proceeding. You don't get to introduce any new evidence (and neither does the agency) in the district court and the decision on the matter is made by the judge, not a jury.

Then the losing party in district court may appeal the matter to the NM Court of Appeals, if he or she has grounds for appeal. But, as indicated in what you quoted from the court web site, this appeal is discretionary. This means that while the losing party in the district court may file for appeal to the Court of Appeals, the Court of Appeals does not have to hear the appeal. It can say it refuses to hear the case, in which case the district court's decision would remain.

You got that guide from the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico's Guide for Pro Se Litigants. That court is a federal district court, not a New Mexico state district court. Your appeal from a decision of a New Mexico state or local government agency goes to a state district court, not the federal district court. Thus, the guide you quoted from will not apply to your state court proceeding. There are some tips in there that are useful for pro se litigants in any court, but a lot are specific to federal court, and since you are not going to be in federal court that guide could lead you astray if you try to use it for your appeal in state district court. In other words, when researching stuff for your case, make sure you are looking at rules for NM courts and not federal courts.

Now this is what I needed to understand and I appreciate your help and professionalism. In addition to you I had to get the correct answer from a Professional Administrative Law Lawyer from California (I love California Lawyers, they don't play hop-scotch with words, straight pros) on another site called Avvo:

The New Mexico Administrative Procedures Act explains how to petition for judicial review ( it’s actually not an appeal the way I see it…much like other states). The appropriate statute appears to be Current New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 > Chapter 39 - Judgments, Costs, Appeals > ARTICLE 3 Appeals: 39-3-1.1 — Appeal of final decisions by agencies to district court; application; scope of review; review of district court decisions.

Now I have to research the cost for a Administrative Law Lawyer who fits both your profiles.

Thanks!....

 

[quincy]

Now this is what I needed to understand and I appreciate your help and professionalism. In addition to you I had to get the correct answer from a Professional Administrative Law Lawyer from California (I love California Lawyers, they don't play hop-scotch with words, straight pros) on another site called Avvo:

The New Mexico Administrative Procedures Act explains how to petition for judicial review ( it’s actually not an appeal the way I see it…much like other states). The appropriate statute appears to be Current New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 > Chapter 39 - Judgments, Costs, Appeals > ARTICLE 3 Appeals: 39-3-1.1 — Appeal of final decisions by agencies to district court; application; scope of review; review of district court decisions.

Now I have to research the cost for a Administrative Law Lawyer who fits both your profiles.

Thanks!....

You will be seeing an administrative law lawyer, then? Good.

 

[pro.se.litigant]

What is the difference between Petition for Review and Notice of Appeal against an Administration Order?

 

[Zigner]

What is the difference between Petition for Review and Notice of Appeal against an Administration Order?

What did the administrative law attorney say when you asked this question?

 

[Taxing Matters]

What is the difference between Petition for Review and Notice of Appeal against an Administration Order?

Without any context as to where you saw those terms in relation to your case there isn't much I can do to answer the question. In general, in NM where you have a statutory right to appeal the decision of an administrative agency to the district you do that by filing a notice of appeal. See NM Rule of Civil Procedure 1-074.

 

[pro.se.litigant]

Apologize for not being clear,

In summary, I filed at the Court of Appeals (wrong venue) and it was dismissed for not having Jurisdiction (Edit), the dismissal didn't include with / without prejudice. I'm +60 days late to file with the District Court, so I need to open the case according to the Clerk's Office by way of Petition. So this time I want to make sure its done correctly and exhausted all legal paths before returning back to the COA (Edit: if I need too).

P.S. I'm in the process of seeking an attorney to do this, but again, if I'm not able to afford it I have to do this myself.

 

[quincy]

Here again is a link to legal assistance resources available in New Mexico:
https://www.lawhelpnewmexico.org/node/28/helpful-links

Good luck.

... I'm in the process of seeking an attorney to do this, but again, if I'm not able to afford it I have to do this myself.

 

[Zigner]

Apologize for not being clear,

In summary, I filed at the Court of Appeals (wrong venue) and it was dismissed, the dismissal didn't include with / without prejudice. I'm +60 days late to file with the District Court, so I need to open the case according to the Clerk's Office by way of Petition. So this time I want to make sure its done correctly and exhausted all legal paths before returning back to the COA.

P.S. I'm in the process of seeking an attorney to do this, but again, if I'm not able to afford it I have to do this myself.

What reason do you have for missing the deadline, and why do you feel that it is one that will allow you file >60 past the time limit?

 

[Taxing Matters]

Apologize for not being clear,

In summary, I filed at the Court of Appeals (wrong venue) and it was dismissed, the dismissal didn't include with / without prejudice.

Ouch, that's unfortunate. In our earlier discussion I had mentioned that generally appeals from state or local administrative agencies go to the state district court. The filing with the court of appeals would result in dismissal from that court, and that order would not say either with prejudice or without prejudice for reasons that I won't go into here. The important thing is that the dismissal from the Court of Appeals would not itself prevent you from filing the appeal in the district court.

I'm +60 days late to file with the District Court, so I need to open the case according to the Clerk's Office by way of Petition.

The problem here, though, is what you noted above: by the time the Court of Appeals dismissed it, your time to file the appeal with the District Court was apparently already gone. The issue now is whether you can still make that appeal late. Off hand I don't know the answer to that question. In some jurisdictions filing your action or appeal in the wrong court will effectively suspend the time for filing with the correct court, giving you time to file in the right place once the wrong court tells you that you got it wrong. In other jurisdictions when you make this kind of mistake you are just out of luck. I might take a look later to see I can find a quick answer to the rule that applies in NM.

 

[pro.se.litigant]

Ouch, that's unfortunate. In our earlier discussion I had mentioned that generally appeals from state or local administrative agencies go to the state district court. The filing with the court of appeals would result in dismissal from that court, and that order would not say either with prejudice or without prejudice for reasons that I won't go into here. The important thing is that the dismissal from the Court of Appeals would not itself prevent you from filing the appeal in the district court.

Yea, I was not paying attention to what I was researching and I followed this path:

Current New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 > Chapter 34 - Court Structure and Administration > 34-5-8. Court of appeals; appellate jurisdiction (A)(5) & (6). So I hope this is not an expensive correction.

 

[quincy]

Yea, I was not paying attention to what I was researching and I followed this path:

Current New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 > Chapter 34 - Court Structure and Administration > 34-5-8. Court of appeals; appellate jurisdiction (A)(5) & (6)

I believe you were told here more than once that the District Court appeared to be the proper court.

Now you might want to take advantage of the legal resources in the link provided earlier, to at least learn whether your legal action can survive. Taxing Matters might be able to give you an idea whether it can or not.

 

[pro.se.litigant]

I believe you were told here more than once that the District Court appeared to be the proper court.

Now you might want to take advantage of the legal resources in the link provided earlier, to at least learn whether your legal action can survive. Taxing Matters might be able to give you an idea whether it can or not.

Yes I was, but I started this topic after I received the Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice from the opposing party. So I wanted to get a clearing understanding of what do before I submitted my response. When I did, I responded to dismiss without prejudice, if I needed to return back to the COA.

And yes, I have been through the list and I'm waiting for correct replies, for some only handle business accounts.

 

[cbg]

I didn't re-read the thread so I don't know if this has been mentioned but just in case it hasn't, if there are any law schools in your area sometimes they hold "clinics"where third-year students, under the supervision of their professors, will review and provide advice.