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Appellate Practice

Apr 8, 2019

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. […]

Apr 8, 2019

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. […]

Apr 8, 2019

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[...]

Apr 8, 2019

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) […]

Mar 11, 2019

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 […]

Jan 3, 2019

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. […]

Nov 13, 2018

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 – […]

Nov 3, 2018

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 […]

Nov 3, 2018

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. […]

Nov 3, 2018

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 […]

Oct 26, 2018

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 […]

Oct 5, 2018

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 […]

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