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Appellate Practice: Inadequate Brief-Small Claims Case
Where an appellant, who requested a trial de novo after failing to prevail in a small claims action, submitted a pro se amended brief that failed to comply with Rule 84.04, the argument on appeal could not be understood, and the appeal is dismissed. Appeal is dismissed. Leslie v. White (MLW No. 73018/Case No. […]
Appellate Practice: Inadequate Brief-Legal Malpractice Case
Where the plaintiff in a legal-malpractice action filed a pro se brief that included deficiencies in the table of contents, jurisdictional statement, statement of facts, points relied on and argument, the brief failed to comply with Rule 84.04, and the plaintiff failed to meet his burden to show reversible trial error. Judgment is affirmed. […]
Appellate Practice: Inadequate Brief-Employment Case
Where the brief of an appellant in an employment-discrimination case included an inadequate jurisdictional statement, points relied on and argument section, the deficiencies prevented appellate review, so the appeal is dismissed. Appeal is dismissed. McGuire v. Edwards (MLW No. 73012Case No. ED106860 – 12 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Odenwald, J.) Appealed [&hellip[...]
Appellate Practice: Dismissal-Notice of Appeal-Signature
Where appellant challenged the dismissal of his pro se complaint, the district court did not err in dismissing the complaint, and the notice of appeal was not effective for the other plaintiffs, who failed to sign the notice of appeal. Judgment is affirmed. Dale v. Mnuchin (MLW No. 73006/Case No. 18-3193 – 2 pages) […]
Appellate Practice: Inadequate Brief-Contract Case-Attorneys’ Fees
Where the brief of a pro se appellant in a contract case substantially failed to comply with the mandatory briefing requirements of Rule 84.04, the appeal must be dismissed, and the defendant’s motion for attorneys’ fees incurred on appeal is sustained based upon a contract provision. Appeal is dismissed. Midtown Home Improvements, Inc. v. Taylor […]
Appellate Practice: Inadequate Brief-Real Estate Contract-Statute of Frauds
Where the appellate brief of a buyer in a case involving a real estate contract substantially failed to comply with Rule 84.04, the appeal must be dismissed, and even if the brief had complied with the rule’s requirements, the statute of frauds would make the contract unenforceable. Appeal is dismissed. Aziz v. Tsevis (MLW No. […]
Appellate Practice: Counterclaims-Voluntary Dismissal-Mootness
Where a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in a probate dispute disposed of all claims brought by the counterclaim plaintiffs, the counterclaim defendants did not object to the voluntary dismissal, so there was no live controversy, and the appeal must be dismissed based on mootness. Ellison v. Fry (MLW No. 72277/Case No. SD35394 – […]
Appellate Practice: Inadequate Brief- Unemployment-Compensation Case
Where the brief of a pro se claimant, who argued that she showed good cause for failing to participate in her appeals tribunal hearing, failed to include a fair and concise statement of facts and the argument section did not contain points relied on that identify the issues for review, the brief substantially failed to […]
Appellate Practice: Jurisdiction- Collateral-Order Doctrine- Recusal Motion
Where appellants challenged the denial of motions for recusal in a civil-rights action, such orders are not immediately appealable, and the collateral-order doctrine was not applicable, so the appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Appeal is dismissed. Campbell v. Baylard, Billington, Dempsey & Jensen, P.C. (MLW No. 72222/Case No. 18-1664 – 3 pages) (U.S. […]
Appellate Practice: Dismissal- Civil-Rights Claim
Where appellant challenged the dismissal of her civil-rights action, the judgment is affirmed because the district court properly granted the motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Judgment is affirmed. Black v. Life Unlimited/Concern Care (MLW No. 72221/Case No. 18-1258 – 2 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, per curiam) Appealed from […]
Appellate Practice: Dismissal- Civil-Rights Claim
Where appellant challenged the dismissal of her civil-rights action, the judgment is affirmed because the district court properly granted the motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Judgment is affirmed. Black v. Life Unlimited/Concern Care (MLW No. 72221/Case No. 18-1258 – 2 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, per curiam) Appealed from […]
Appellate Practice: Incomplete Record- Wrongful Termination
Where an employer sought a writ of mandamus for the withdrawal of a right-to-sue letter issued to a former employee, arguing that the trial court erred in granting the motion to dismiss, the appeal must be dismissed because the record on appeal was not complete because it did not include the transcript of the motion […]
Latest Opinion Digests
- Immigration: Asylum-Withholding of Removal-Appellate Jurisdiction
- Criminal Law: Child Pornography-Bottom-of-Guidelines Sentence-Substantive Reasonableness of Sentence
- Criminal Law: Child Abuse-Sufficiency Of Evidence-Closing Argument
- Civil Rights: Religious Freedom-RLUIPA-Res Judicata
- Civil Practice: Res Judicata-Stop Work Order
- Immigration: Drug Conviction-Removability-Overbreadth of State Offense
- Civil Practice: Asset Forfeiture-Sanctions
- Civil Rights: Due Process-Failure to State Claim
- Probate : Revocable Trust – Amendment – Reformation
- Employer – Employee : Unpaid Commissions – At-Will Status
- Criminal Law : Post-Conviction Relief – Effectiveness Of Counsel – Conflict Of Interest
- Appellate Practice : Jurisdiction – Final Judgment
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