We’ve shared the story of Brian Vukadinovich in this space here and here. It’s our pleasure to welcome him to Courtroom5 and to share with you his manual on litigation for the pro se plaintiff. — Eds.
The purpose of this manual is to give the pro se plaintiff helpful insights into essential areas of the law. This should help prepare you to represent yourself, hopefully to a successful conclusion.
This information will help the pro se plaintiff better understand the obstacles you are likely to encounter and perhaps overcome with a better understanding of the principles that will be necessary to prosecute your case and to avoid dismissal by motions to dismiss or motions for summary judgment that will in all likelihood be employed by defense attorneys.
Under the law you have every right to represent yourself, as the Judiciary Act of 1789 states: “That in all courts of the United States, the parties may plead and manage their own causes personally…”
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I. Prerequisites to filing discrimination suits
Depending on the state you live in or the nature of action you are pursuing, you may be required to first submit a notice of tort claim if your claim is a state claim against a state governmental agency. Be sure to research your state’s laws with respect to time periods for required notices so you don’t unintentionally waive any of your legal rights for failure to timely submit a tort claims notice.
If your claim involves discrimination in violation of a federal statute, then you must first file an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charge in the office of the appropriate jurisdiction. Generally discrimination claims for violations of federal statutes require a discrimination charge to be filed with the EEOC within 180 days of the occurrence of the discriminatory act. Failure to timely file the discrimination charge with the EEOC could result in waiver of your right to seek redress for the discrimination claim(s) in a court of law.
Once a discrimination charge is filed with the EEOC, your charge will be investigated. If it finds cause, the EEOC will issue a finding. If it is not able to issue a finding of cause based on the information provided, the EEOC will issue a right to sue letter giving you the right to file a lawsuit in a court of law. You have 90 days to file your lawsuit from the date you receive a right to sue letter from the EEOC.
II. Familiarity with the governing rules of court
It is very important to familiarize yourself with the governing rules of the court where you will be filing your cause of action. Many pro se’s make the mistake of proceeding with their litigation without studying the governing rules of procedure, and that can be very costly in terms of the fate of your case. Defense lawyers love to find technical flaws with a pro se’s procedure and they look for any missteps that the pro se may make in not following the governing rules.
Many times the failure to know and follow the rules of procedure result in a dismissal of a case. These dismissals can be avoided to a large degree simply by taking the time to familiarize yourself with the rules. That would include the state or federal rules of procedure, depending on which venue you are in, and also the rules of the specific (local) court you are in.
If the case is in federal court, it would be the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. If the case is in state court, you would need to research the rules of procedure from that particular state. In addition to the federal or state rules of procedure, most courts also have their own “local rules” that you should get familiar with to ensure you are following procedures designated by the local court. You also should familiarize yourself with the Rules of Evidence for the venue, i.e., state or federal court.
III. Familiarity with terms generally used in litigation
You will run into many legal terms that you may have never heard of before, for example such as “in limine,” “void dire,” “Daubert motions,” “estoppel” and many others, and it is very important that you learn what those terms mean if and when they come up in your case.
You can do this by obtaining a dictionary of legal terms or of course with an internet search.
IV. Preparing and filing the complaint
The general rules of pleading are such that you must file a complaint stating a claim for relief. To adequately state a proper claim for relief, the complaint must contain three essential elements:
- a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court’s jurisdiction, unless the court already has jurisdiction and the claim needs no new jurisdiction support;
- a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief; and
- a demand for the relief sought, which may include relief in the alternative or different types of relief.
It’s important that you as a pro se plaintiff look up the rules of pleading in the venue in which you are filing your case. The laws vary from state to state, and some states, like Indiana, do not permit a dollar amount to be stated. Federal complaints allow plaintiffs to state the dollar amount they are seeking in damages.
If you want a jury trial, you must state your jury demand in your complaint. If you are in a federal court, they are required to liberally construe your pleadings and apply less stringent standards under Haines v. Kerner, et al., 401 U.S. 519 (1972).
It is important to state sufficient facts in your complaint to withstand a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim for relief. This will be one of the first things the defense will look for when your case is filed, as attorneys routinely try this tactic early in the litigation if they see a flaw in your complaint.
V. Discovery
Conducting effective discovery is a crucial aspect of prosecuting your case. Discovery helps you obtain information and evidence to prove your case, and it also helps to defend against any dispositive motions. If your cause of action is in a federal court, you should study the discovery portions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. If your cause of action is in a state court, you should study the discovery-related rules for that state.
Rule 26(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states:
Unless otherwise limited by court order, the scope of discovery is as follows: Parties may obtain discovery regarding nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties’ resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit. Information within this scope of discovery need not be admissible in evidence to be discoverable.
There are several avenues of discovery that you should be familiar with and prepared to use.
- Interrogatories are written questions you can submit to any and all of the defendants in your case that are to be answered under oath. Generally, the defendants will have thirty (30) days to respond to your interrogatories from the date they receive them.
- Depositions are oral questions you can ask of any of the defendants in your case. While this is a very effective means of discovery, it can be expensive as you will have to employ a court reporter for this.
- Requests for Production are requests you can make to the defendants to produce documents and other tangible things for your review.
- Requests for Admissions are written requests you can make to any and all of the defendants in your case to admit or deny specific facts and the genuineness of any described documents.
Effective use of discovery can be very helpful in proving your case and also in responding to any motions for summary judgment.
VI. Dispositive motions
In most cases, and especially when you are proceeding pro se, you can expect the defendants to file some type of a dispositive motion in an effort to kill your case before trial. Usually this happens with a motion to dismiss for a technical reason of some kind, or a motion for summary judgment where the defendants will argue there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
You must understand what a “fact” is in the eyes of the law; a fact can be a statement made or an action taken. And that “fact” has to be “material,” i.e. something that matters, something of consequence to the issue. A “genuine dispute” is proven by contradictory or conflicting evidence. “Matters of law” are the components of a claim as defined by statutes and appellate court decisions. If your action is in federal court this rule would be found in Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. If you are in a state court, you should research that state’s summary judgment rules.
This is a very critical aspect of your case that you should be well prepared to respond to. If you fail to file an adequate response to the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and the motion is granted, your case is over and you get no trial. You can, of course, appeal the decision to an appellate court, but it is always better to file a strong response in the trial court and defeat a motion for summary judgment.
You should be prepared to rebut the case law filed by the defendant and to submit case law that is favorable to your position. You need to learn how to research the case law relevant to the issues of your case for two substantial reasons: first, you need to cite supporting case law to convince the judge that the law is on your side on the issue, and secondly, the defense lawyer(s) will generally cite a multitude of cases to support the defendant’s position.
Defense lawyers often try to overwhelm pro se’s with an enormous amount of case law, much of which may not even be relevant to the case and calculated to just overwhelm you. You will need to read well and understand those cases so you can argue against their relevancy to the issues in your case. Many times, cases that are cited by the defendant’s lawyers are actually helpful to your case, as defense lawyers may only point to the one or two sentences in a case that are helpful to their position, ignoring the pages of text that are helpful to yours. So you must know how to read and properly apply the case law to make an intelligent argument to the court.
You should be prepared to submit evidence in support of your response showing that there is a genuine dispute as to the material facts and that the defendant is not entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. This is where your due diligence in the way you conducted discovery will be very helpful, as you will be able to use the information and evidence you obtained — interrogatories, depositions, requests for production, requests for admissions — to help defeat the defendant’s motion for summary judgment.
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VII. Preparing for trial
There will be a multitude of things you will have to do to prepare for trial. These things will be outlined by the court in an order controlling the case, such as deadlines for filing any pretrial motions. Pretrial motions include dispositive motions and motions in limine designed to prevent the opposing side from introducing certain items of information or evidence. There will also be proposed final pretrial orders, contentions, stipulations of fact, exhibit lists and witness lists.
If the matter is going to be tried to a jury rather than a bench trial, you will also prepare proposed jury instructions and your objections to the defendants’ jury instructions. Depending on your court’s local rules, you will have to prepare voir dire questions, which are questions to be asked of potential jurors during jury selection.
You will of course have to have copies of all your exhibits, labeled, with a copy that you will introduce into evidence and a copy for the court and defense counsel. You should become familiar with how to do an effective opening and closing statement. Again, be familiar with the rules of procedure and rules of evidence so you will know how to get your evidence admitted at trial. If you fail to do adequate preparation and don’t do your homework to become knowledgeable with the rules of trial procedure and rules of evidence, you will face many objections by opposing counsel and you will become overwhelmed at trial. Your chances of success will be greatly diminished.
Trial preparation can be an overwhelming process and it is very important to do your due diligence with respect to preparing your pleadings and your legal arguments, and being able to address legal points that come up during the trial. When you are preparing your various court papers, it can be helpful to review other court cases as court files are a matter of public record and you can learn a great deal from studying court pleadings in other cases that went to trial. For example, you can take jury instructions from another case similar to yours and tailor the jury instructions for your case. You can do the same thing with pleadings and tailor them to your case.
Because most trials involve a multitude of documents, this alone can be a potential problem for you to handle at trial and will disrupt your thought process and the flow of the trial if you find yourself overwhelmed in keeping track of and looking for particular documents throughout the trial. For this reason, if you have somebody that is responsible and competent enough to help you keep track of the documents and help you stay organized at trial, you can ask the judge for permission to allow this person to sit with you at trial and assist you with the paperwork aspect of things. This would be a tremendous help to you and something that would be wise for you to consider.
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Brenda Burns says
Brian Vukadinovich, my family is so desperate to get someone to at least guide us on a very unfair case in the probate court in Montgomery Co. Texas. We have already spent thousands and still lost the case. This may not be interested that you would be into but if so I can give you the case, links and all the progress that we have done on our own. We can’t afford to pay another 10-15 thousand to get a retrial. The man that is doing this to us is the spouse of our sister, mother and grandmother. He is a really bad bad person that just can’t seem to lose. He forged a Will which wasn’t the first time and got away with it. Please let me know if you are even interested in our story…. Thank you, Brenda Burns
Brian Vukadinovich says
Hi Brenda,
I am sorry to hear about what you are going through with your case. I hear a lot of similar horror stories where people have spent thousands of dollars on attorney’s feels and so forth and weren’t able to get justice. It is happening all over the country it seems. You say that a “Will” was forged and the person got away with it. Forgery is a crime if it can be proved. Did you report the forgery to law enforcement officials? If he got away with it in the civil case, that wouldn’t necessarily mean that he would get away with it in a criminal case. As for your civil case, have you considered joining Courtroom5? From what I gather from your message, you can’t afford to pay thousands more to get a retrial and are faced with proceeding on your own. Courtroom5 could provide some guidance to you.
Brian
Rhys Michaels says
Brenda,
My name is Rhys Michaels and I have personally prosecuted and/or assisted others with successful pro se civil, and criminal matters. State and Federal.
I was moved by your plea.
If you are still in need of assistance, contact me @ michaelsrhys@gmail.com.
I will look and give you a zero bull-&%!* opinion of you situation at Zero cost.
RM
Brenda Burns says
You can’t imagine how greatful this family would be to have your help 🙂
Brenda Burns says
michaelsrhys@gmail, please let me know what I can do to help you help us. I have all the paperwork that I can imagine that you would need. I suppose we need the transcript from the trial but we can’t afford to order it yet.
It would show that our attorney caught the defendants witnessed discussing the case and he ask that their testimony be thrown out but the Judge she just wanted to hear more and would not strike their testimony. They got caught lying about what they testified to.
The defendant even paid the supposedly last bill owed by my sis using her debit card and he is not on that card. That’s why we have filed Identity theft report and credit card theft already. We have a complaint filed on the Notary as well because she witnessed and notorized a forged Will.
She also faked a page in her notary book and sent us a copy of it. She is no longer a Notary so we had to file a state complaint about her. We We have filed complaints from the county all the way to the state Attorney General asking for help. We have recordered threatening calls and a sketch where he put $ amounts over our heads. You name it, we have it! Just dont know how to get it RESUBMITTED in court for an appeal. Thank you, Brenda
Brian Vukadinovich says
Hi Brenda. It looks like you are going to get some help from Rhys Michaels. Good for you, I’m very happy to hear that. And good for Rhys Michaels for stepping up to the plate and offering to help you! Hopefully you will get some justice! Good luck!
Ryan Wade says
Dear Rhys Michaels,
I am helping a family member with a case involving attorney fraud and misconduct as well as real property fraudulently obtained and I wanted to ask for any help that you can provide as I would appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Ryan Wade
Mike Cowan says
Good day
Im mike cowan in Houston texas
Im in very bad need of legal help. I cant afford a attorney so im going pro.see.
My landlord has wrongful eviction on me. Ive went to justice court with jury and came out owing 750.
Ive been harrassed things stolen. Or destroyed by mgr. I have disabilitys and dont do confirmation well. I need help with what 2 do.
Im going Monday and appeal the case 2 County court.
Do i fill a written objection letter
And then along with it a formal appeal with answer.
SOMEONE PLZ HELP ME
Brian Vukadinovich says
Hi Mike,
I am very sorry to hear about such an outcome in your case. You have a few options available to you assuming that the time periods to do so have not elapsed. You can filed a “Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding Verdict” which is a motion asking the judge to set the jury verdict aside. Generally these kinds of motions require that you show that the jury verdict was wrong because the verdict is not supported by the evidence and that the evidence supports your case. In this particular type of motion you are attacking the jury’s decision. Another option you have is to file a “Motion to Correct Errors” which is a motion attacking the rulings by the judge for example such as erroneous rulings about evidence when the judge admitted or disallowed evidence and rulings when the judge didn’t allow you to ask certain questions or allowed the other side to ask questions that shouldn’t have been allowed. You have to be very specific in pointing out these issues in the motion and you would need the trial transcript (which can be very expensive) to do so. Another option is you can file an appeal to the state appellate court in Texas. If you go this route you will have to file a “Notice of Appeal” and then follow up with filing timely appellate briefs. For this you would need the trial transcript as well. Keep in mind that there are very strict time periods that these things must be done and if you don’t do them within the required time periods, you then waive your rights to appeal. Be sure to get familiar with the rules as to each type of motion, and appeal if you go that route. It is very difficult to overturn a jury verdict, not impossible, but difficult. It has been done, but you will have to show that the evidence didn’t support the jury’s verdict. If you go with the Motion to Correct Errors and/or appeal to the state appellate court, you will have to show that the judge committed reversible errors during the trial which deprived you of a fair trial. You can do both if you want to, or you can just go with the appeal, if you go with the Motion to Correct Errors, that will come first and then the appeal to the state appellate court would follow after the judge makes his rulings on the motion. I hope this information is helpful, and I wish you the very best of luck in your quest for justice!
Brian Vukadinovich says
Hi Brenda,
I assume the probate court in Montgomery County, TX, is a state court. If you are interested in appealing the decision in your case it will be very important for you to do so in a timely manner. You must file any appeal papers in a timely manner. Court’s are very strict on this and if you fail to file your appeal by the required deadline date, your appeal will be time barred and you will in all likelihood lose your right to appeal. I would suggest that you take a look at the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. There are a few different ways to go, depending on what your case situation is. Take a look at Rule 505.3 which deals with Motion to Set Aside, Motion to Reinstate, and Motion for New Trial. If your situation doesn’t fall in line with any of these and your situation calls for an appeal, take a look at Rule 506. According to Rule 506 you must file within 21 days after the judgment is signed or the motion to reinstate, motion to set aside, or motion for new trial, if any, is denied. It appears that a $500 bond be filed in order to appeal. If you feel you cannot pay this bond, take a look at Rule 506.1(d) stating “An appellant who cannot furnish a bond or pay a cash deposit in the amount required may instead file a Statement of Inability to Pay Amount of Court Costs.” If you are appealing, be sure to file your papers within the deadlines. If you do proceed with an appeal, you should review the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure so you will know the requirements for the appeal. I hope this information has been helpful. I wish you the best in your quest for a fair and just decision.
Brian
Brenda Burns says
Thank you Bryan. I will be looking this up. Our 30 day appeal time was right in the middle of Texas floors so we didn’t get an appeal in. We just couldn’t afford anymore court cost 🙁
Brian Vukadinovich says
You’re welcome Brenda. It’s just so sad that people have to go through so much to get justice in their cases. Many times it is cost prohibitive and that is unfortunate. The system requires so much in terms of how much money people have to pay for filing costs and so forth and then after spending so much money to get their cases filed, the court far too often aren’t inclined to administer justice. That is why pro se status is so important, sometimes people have no other choice but to represent themselves because of financial issues in their lives. The system needs to be more sympathetic to that very real fact of life. I wish you the best.
Albert DAgostino says
It is known that ALL plaintiffs may conduct their own cases (pro se). It is stated clearly in the Judicial Act enactment of the first congress of 1789. Section 35 of the act clearly states that “parties may plead and manage their own causes personally…” It is the next part of the text that is most interesting and often overlooked by many, including the courts, almost all lawyers, and especially the ABA. The text continues, “or by the assistance of such counsel or attorneys at law…”
The law make a clear distinction between “counsel” and “attorney at law.” The labels are not transposable. While an attorney at law may be counseling a client, he is not the “counsel” as noted in the text. The “counsel” noted in Section 35 of the law need not be a practicing “attorney at law.” He is a counselor in the widest definition of the word — he is giving advice or imparting knowledge — no accreditation by the ABA is necessary.
This means that and plaintiff can bring ANY person to court to act as “counsel” and to SPEAK for them. This right was present in the Common Laws of England and were adopted by all courts in America.
Why is it that the ABA was able to get a law passed in 49 states which denies this Constitutional right? The law was crafted to protect the legal industry by the legal industry. The ABA is a private organization that was able to usurp power and have a law passed for the protection of their profits.
There are many court decisions including Supreme Court cases that support this law. Unfortunately, ignorant judges, almost all who are members of the ABA, continue to subvert the law and deny citizens of basic rights. There is very little discussion concerning this egregious dereliction of law. Should there even be a discussion that this right actually exists. Do we discuss the existence of our right to free speech? Of course not, it is an accepted fact. The right to FREE choice of counsel is also an established fact and law, but one that does not conform to business practices, so it is ignored,
Brenda Burns says
Thank you!
Brian Vukadinovich says
You’re welcome Brenda.
Brian Vukadinovich says
Albert DAgostino is exactly right in his eloquent comments regarding the Judicial Act of 1789, Section 35. I wholeheartedly agree with his well stated comments. Unfortunately, we, the pro se’s, are treated as second class citizens in the courts by a very unfair and indifferent judiciary. Even though I was fortunate to win my federal court case by representing myself at the trial, the judge went out of his way in many different ways to do what he could to prevent me from winning because I was pro se. As tough as that was, I stayed strong and held my ground against his efforts to do so. At one point just before the trial when we were discussing a pleading issue to which he was very ignorant of, or simply indifferent, when I stated to him the Supreme Court decision of Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519 (1972) which requires a liberal reading of pro se complaints, the judge got very angry and responded, “here we go”. I responded back to him asking him what he meant by “here we go” but he wouldn’t comment back any further as I am sure he realized that we were on the record and he made a very inappropriate comment when I took him to task by mentioning the Haines v. Kerner case to him. But pro se’s have to be very careful in how they respond to judges as judges know they hold most of the cards and are inclined to punish the pro se for speaking up, as unfair as that is. I felt comfortable in doing so as I believe we are entitled to be heard as litigants. But without question, Albert is right, there are many judges out there who subvert the law and deny citizens of basic rights. It is a widespread problem. I wrote an opinion piece on this very subject published by the Washington Examiner “Courts and Congress must protect the rights of pro se plaintiffs”. (August 25, 2017).
Daphne Manning says
This is great information. How can one utilize this against the unconstitutional family court where you are the respondent? Someone is trying to steal children by infringing upon our parental rights to the upbringing, education, and control of our children without proving how we are educating them is in fact harming them. They even admitted that they have not even seen the children, claim someone gave them a call but have produced no evidence. The judge of course is violating our rights by taking us to trial but I have been researching and this is indeed a constitutional/state statute violation. Will this help me prepare documents for that type of case? Parents and children are stressed out. The person is narcissistic abuser who has no relationship with children except being a grandparent by blood; does not even know two of the children.
Brian Vukadinovich says
Hi Daphne. What state are you in? And exactly what court are you in? This sounds like a typical case that is going on all over the United States. Usually these types of cases have judges who simply want to enter a decision and get the case out of his/her way so they can do the same thing with the next case. When you say “someone” is stealing your children, who is “someone”? Are you talking about a particular agency? When you say they have produced no evidence, in what manner did you ask for evidence? Did you conduct discovery in the case? From what I can read into what you are saying here, you may want to consider requesting an evidentiary hearing where you can put the people who you think are doing these things on the witness stand and question them under oath in open court ON THE RECORD! It sounds like the judge is a pro government type judge and inclined to side with the government agency. If the judge is really doing you in and making it impossible for you to prove that the allegations are untrue, you may perhaps want to consider asking for an “interlocutory appeal”. Most appeals take place after the case is over and then a party will ask the court of appeals to review the court’s actions. But when there is a situation going on or an issue that is of high importance that must be properly dealt at the time of the litigation to prevent a miscarriage of justice, you could possibly effect an interlocutory appeal where an appellate court would review the judge’s actions quickly and without having to wait until the case was over. The problem with an interlocutory appeal is that in most states the judge who is being attacked for being unfair or unjust must approve a request for an interlocutory appeal before a party can file an appeal of the judge’s actions before the case is concluded. That makes it hard as many judges are very hesitant to do so, but it does sometime happen. At this point from what I can read between the lines is that the kids are being taken away just from an accusation from somebody that has not even seen the children and are doing so based from a call from somebody that they won’t even identify. It appears on the surface that there are some potential due process violations taking place. You definitely need information and evidence. You should be able to conduct discovery in the court case so you should be making formal requests for documents, all records in connection to the matter. Ask for all reports, letters that have been written, emails, telephone log records, notes, memos, text messages, faxes, etc. that are in any way relevant to the taking of the children. Ask for an evidentiary hearing and put the people on the witness stand who are involved and grill them and make them answer questions under oath so you can prove that their conduct is wrong. You can also ask for a preliminary injunction against the agency and/or persons who are involved in this matter, but to get an injunction you will have to prove that the agency and/or involved persons are doing things in an unfair manner. Do you have any advocates in your city/county, your area that provide assistance to people who are trying to defend against the taking away of their children by such wrongful and unfair means? By the way, you say the court is an unconstitutional family court and that your research shows that what they are doing is a constitutional/state statute violation. If you indeed have such research, perhaps you could cite that research in a motion for a preliminary injunction. In a preliminary injunction you would be asking a judge to grant you temporary relief for a certain period of time because what has been happening should not be happening and that you would like an order stopping things from going forward for the time being until such time that you can conduct discovery to prove your case and then the judge would at some point conduct a hearing on a permanent injunction where he would rule that there should be a permanent injunction against what has been taking place. I know this is a lot to take in, but these are a few things you can consider. It will be tough though as most judges have a tendency to side with the government agencies and it sounds from what you are saying here that you have a very unfriendly judge.
Esther Yates says
Hi Brian,
I was very inspired reading about your success as a pro se litigant. I am extremely excited by Judge Posner’s advocacy of pro se litigants and that you are working with him. My husband and I are currently appealing with the 4th Circuit Court a foreclosure case that we file with the Eastern District Court of Alexandria. Our case was dismissed with total disregard for the facts, evidence and the law. I emailed Judge Posner a synopsis of the case (attached the complaint and appeal filings) and pray that Team Posner Law Group finds time to review it.
A short summary is that a bank and servicer that did not fund the refinance of our home in 2005 has made three foreclosure attempts on our only home. It all started when during the recession in 2009 my husband lost his job and we applied for loan modification. The then servicer forced us into a manufactured default by telling us to stop payments for 90 days, repeatedly denied receipt of loan modification documents we submitted, rejected every attempt to pay outstanding mortgage payments (total of $16,307 – loan from family and 401k), and dual tracked foreclosure while loan modification was being processed. It was then that we discovered evidence of misrepresentation, fraud and forgery since inception of the loan. The true lender and other material facts were never disclosed to us at alleged closing up to present. The loan was securitized and loan documents never transferred into the trust.
The court record includes two forged loan applications (fabricated inflated income and assets), two forged promissory notes (one with ink-smudged borrower signature), and forged assignment of deed of trust, and a criminal complaint of forgery being investigation by the Prince William County. The opposing party did not dispute any of this evidence in their pleadings and the Eastern District Court dismissed our case without adjudication or explanation disputing these facts in its orders. Every motion we made was denied without a hearing or opportunity to amend our complaint – our pro se complaint was never liberally construed contrary to the law.
In support of the claim of forgery in our complaint, in the appeal brief we attached an expert handwriting analysis confirming that my signatures on the promissory note and loan application are inauthentic. We also attached an affidavit from the then president of the alleged original lender swearing that he did not endorse the note to the next entity shown on the note. The opposing party primary sole argument for dismissal is that our complaint is based on the “show-me-the-note” theory, which is frowned upon by Virginia courts. However, this argument is not valid because in addition to the fact that the servicer voluntarily presented the forged note to the bankruptcy court to lift stay to foreclose, UCC law also states that if plaintiff in pleadings denies validity of signature on an instrument, the burden of establishing validity is on the party claiming validity. The lower court failed to ensure that the bank and servicer establish validity of the note to our prejudice, and I am afraid that the appellate court may robotically affirm the lower court’s error without considering the facts and the law.
Sorry to be long winded, but this is just a tidbit of the extreme injustice in our case. We are doing the best we can given that we are representing ourselves but believe we could do even better were we to get some help from Team Posner Law Group. Thanks for what you do and hope to hear your views on our case.
Esther Yates says
Very important to add that we gave the courts two letters from the bank disclaiming ownership of the note and deed of trust in response to our rescission of the loan and our cfpb complaint. The rescission of the note and deed of trust was never contested by the bank/servicer and therefore the last attempted foreclosure violated the law because the note and deed of trust was now void (not to mention the fraud/forgery from loan inception invalidated the entire loan transaction).
Our case is exemplary of thousands of homeowners whose homes are being stolen by banks and servicers because the courts are biased to homeowners getting “a free home”. In our case, we believe it is the servicer and not the bank that is pursuing foreclose. We motioned the court to have opposing counsel show authority to represent and this too was denied.
Rick D says
Hi, Mr. Vukadinovich (Brian)
May I know what is the fee to joint your membership?
My EEOC has gone through all process except a few days late for the roof of Service (Deliver the Complaint letter to Defendant), that the Magistrate Judge assigned to this case drafted the final Report & Recommendation to dismiss my case. My deadline of writing an Objection letter is on 3/21 (Thurs).
Are you able to help me?
Thank you
Rick
Rick D says
typo, “Proof of Service” (Deliver the Complaint letter to Defendant)
Brian Vukadinovich says
Hi Rick,
There is no membership fee. Here is the website.
http://justice-for-pro-ses.org/
Pro Se ToniaT. says
Sadly…
NOTICE OF THE DISSOLUTION
OF THE POSNER CENTER OF
JUSTICE FOR PRO SE’S
“The Board of Directors of the Posner Center of Justice for Pro Se’s Nonprofit Corporation dissolved the Posner Center on July 23, 2019.
The stated reason for the Posner Center’s dissolution is that the Center was receiving many more requests for assistance from pro se litigants than it could handle. The mismatch was something on the order of 100 requests for assistance for every Center staff member.
Since the lawyers and non-lawyers of the Posner Center were assisting the pro se litigants free of charge, perhaps it was inevitable that the demand would greatly exceed the supply. Thus, this experiment in assisting pro se litigants with their ongoing court cases has sadly come to an end.”
John Archer says
i have been involved for over a year, pro se, in litigation against a large power company which has violated the terms of regulatory agency decisions. So far, I have won a major decision from the regulatory agency, but of course, the utility has found a loophole in state law which permits them to force me into state court over the question of their proper easement rights. Meanwile they proceed to construct, although telling the court (under oath) that if they ultimately loose to me, they will simply “tear down” the $100,000,000 construction! I have tried but failed to find a law student or non-practicing attorney to assist me as in preparing documents, but they have all begged off, intimidated by threats that they would be illegally practicing law. What do you recommend?
Brian Vukadinovich says
Hi John,
Have you checked out the resources available here on Courtroom5? There are several opportunities here for educational opportunities and so forth. Have you messaged Sonja on here? She could perhaps direct you to the resources that could possibly help you.
Brian
Lamar says
Mr. Vukodinovich,
Can you give instruction or suggestions on handling prejudice Magistrate when there is obvious evidence of the prejudice- even evidence of possible criminal acts on part of the Court?
Brian Vukadinovich says
Hi Lamar,
Without know which particular court you are in, it makes it a bit difficult to answer this question because courts handling things a bit differently from court to court and state to state. If it’s in federal court, the rules are more uniform. You said you have a “Magistrate” in your case. Generally magistrates decisions can be challenged to the regular judges, in federal court if the magistrate issues a decision that is believe to be unfair or wrong, the party(s) have a right to have the regular judge review the decision. If you are in state court look up your state’s rules and see if you have the right to have the regular judge review the decision. If you have evidence that the magistrate is prejudice submit it to the regular judge and ask that the magistrate’s rulings be vacated and that the magistrate be removed from any further matters in your case. Generally judges will back the magistrates, not always, but mostly they will back them. Another option you have is that you can file a disciplinary complaint against the magistrate. Again, because you didn’t state what court your case is in, it makes it difficult to more fully answer this question. If in federal court, the complaint would go to the chief judge of the circuit that your case is in. If in state court, you can submit it to the chief judge of the circuit you are in in your part of the state. You can also file a complaint with the state’s judicial commission that the judge is in. It is very difficult to get honest resolutions when filing complaints against judges as judges will almost every time protect their brethren, and it is judges who review the complaints against other judges. You will have to have strong evidence of egregious prejudice to convince them to do anything with the magistrate.
Lamar says
Thank you.
The case is in Federal Court. I’ll add some details- I cannot seem to get a decision motion to compel;
the Magistrate has said numerous things which judge on the side of the oposition (attorney defendant); mistakes the Magistrate spoke at hearing do not appear on transcript; Magistrate allows oposition motions which he does not have authority in; this Magistrate has been at the bench for 6 years when the rules say 4 is the max.
I think the most worrisome thing is the statements being missing from the transcript.
Thank you.
Brian Vukadinovich says
If there are things that the magistrate said that do not appear on the transcript, that should be a significant reason for you to submit a complaint, if you can prove it that is. I would be asking for removal of the magistrate and a review of the matter. As for the magistrate being there for 6 years, in all likelihood he was reappointed. Reappointments of magistrates are commonplace.
Lamar says
Thank you. You have been very helpful in your guidance.
The proof that the transcript deletion occurred in the Court is also the reason it is difficult to prove.
I had suspected the outside transcriptionist until I recieved a copy of the Court’s CD recording of the hearing. There are a couple of short blank spots that anyone can notice if they are looking for that. It was edited at the Court.
Brian Vukadinovich says
Take them to task on the record and make the point that there is an unexplained discrepancy as to the transcript deletion which is matched up with the short blank spots as this can definitely be construed as a cause for alarm as to the integrity of the proceedings. File a motion for an explanation to get the court’s explanation on the record, which the court will undoubtedly come up with some type of nonsense excuse, but at least you will have something to go by to strengthen an appeal if it becomes necessary. Also, the court will know you are on top of things and will take the court to task with any monkey business which may make the court double think things a little. If it was my case, I would definitely confront the court with it and make it a matter of record.
Lamar says
Your guidance and your encouragements are invaluable!
Lamar says
Important update to the above matter. You may have some insight to share!
My motion to compel was finally decided upon.
At the same time, the opposition had already filed a motion to stay Federal proceedings to go into State court (they have several big advantages there). The Judge flipped that motion to the Magistrate to decide.
The results, after all the fluff is culled away from the Orders, sounded like this:
first he denied my motion to compel because the info could be gotten in State Court; then before my deadline to appeal the compel decision, he granted the oppositions’ motion to Stay because I need the information which was asked for in the motion to compel (which he had just denied). It is notable that there are NO proceedings ongoing in the State court to go to. The Stay really cut through the middle of the document subpoenas which I had been sending out and awaiting response (several witnesses have chosen to delay their response & several subpoenas cannot go out).
I filed a (very expensive) appeal of the denial of motion to compel. It was denied by the Judge because of the Stay Order (but still on time).
To conserve $$ I then submitted a motion to reconsider the Stay and included a request for a formal investigation into the edited transcript (mentioned above) and to have the Magistrate recused.
So far it remains on the Judge’s docket and not the Magistrate’s.
The hearing date has come and gone. It is possible that the Judge intends to sit on my motion and simply not decide until matters have been filed in State Court. That is definitely not what I want. I do not have the money to travel to State Court, or the knowledge of law to carry out the in-person hearings.
Is it possible to appeal to Circuit Court while waiting for the decision to reconsider? (The offensive Stay Order was granted 54 days ago).
Given all this, what action can I take?
Patt McGuire says
Brian Vukadinovich,
First let me say thank you for sharing your experience. I saw your video a while ago on the case you won against the school your worked for. I learned then about the Haines vs. Kerner case. I interjected it in my case and it supported my case well.
I am reaching out to you now to see if you can help me with my case that is still going on. My case is made up of two cases now because tampering was done to my original case internally (Case Net.). After researching the illegal act against my original case, I learned that the unauthorized access to my case in a “protected computer” was illegal. I sited Section 1030 and the Computer Fraud Abuse Act to support my claims. I filed this tampering against my employment discrimination case as a separate petition. With that being done, I now was fighting both cases, employment discrimination case and tamper (obstruction of justice) case as a pro se. Needless to say, I have been busy keeping up with both of them.
The Respondents moved both case to the Federal Court. The Tampering (Obstruction Justice) case was remanded back to the district court. My employment discrimination case remained with the Federal Court. However, I have remand on top of both cases. Currently, the tampering case is with the Missouri Supreme Court in Jefferson City. I have filed my Writ of Certirorari. That is it’s current status with the Missouri Supreme Court. My employment discrimination case is in the Appeal process. I recently turned in my Reply Brief to the Respondent’s Response Brief. I am in a holding position on both cases. Neither courts have made a move on my filings.
Both cases are linked because the tampering happened on my employment discrimination case.
There have been other illegal violations on my employment discrimination case during this process. Here are the other claims I am fighting with my employment discrimination case. First the counsels conceal my errata sheets from the judge after my first deposition. My errata sheets were not released to me or the Court until after the judge dismissed my case. I sited Rule 47(e) which stated that no document can be concealed, altered, etc. I requested for a default judgment which Rule 47(e) stated could be asked.
Secondly, the counsels presented a “fake” document to me in my second deposition. I filed a new petition on my employment discrimination case for “Tampering with Physical Evidence” which is a Class A Misdemeanor. In this petition I named new added defendants because of this violation. I named both counsels, the company, and the employer of the counsels.
At this point my employment discrimination case has just become two cases in one but with layers of claims.
As you can see my cases have kept me busy. I was given a court date of May 6, 2019; however, the judge withheld paperwork and let the date go by. I conducted four out of the five depositions on all the original defendants. When it came time for me to depos the corporate designee, the judge granted to quash it. I Objected because in the Case Management Conference Order the Judge stated if the counsels for the defendants depos me, I have the right to depos all the defendants. But that did not happen. I used that as one of my Points Relied on in in Reply Brief.
There are so many layers to my case that I would like to speak with you if that is possible. I was wondering if you could email me a better contact email address so I could speak with you, if that is possible. My email address is patt.mcguire@yahoo.com. I was hoping to see if there are other things I can do at this point in time and I was wondering if you could give me some helpful tips to move forward with my case.
I think both courts will make a ruling on my cases soon but I am not for sure. Are there other things I can do?
Brian Vukadinovich says
Hi Patt. I read the Missouri Court of Appeals decision in your case and it is very evident that you had a hostile panel of judges, that was very clear to me when I read the decision. It is evident that the three judges were in no mood to give a favorable decision to a pro se. The panel stated that your jurisdictional statement was “insufficient” and that your Points on Appeal were “woefully inadequate” under the criteria of Rule 84.04(d) and failed to “concisely state a claim of error”. They were also critical of the fact that you didn’t seek leave in the district court to amend your complaint. They were dismissive of the fact that information was in fact incorrect on the website but blamed that error on the website people and said that the information in the actual record of proceedings was correct. They threw a roadblock at you at every turn without question. Your case is another classic case of where a court simply is not going to allow a pro se to receive justice. At the end of their decision they went out of their way to say that even if you would have amended your complaint that you still would have lost because you didn’t have a legally cognizable claim. I know you have some things going on now in the lower court and based on what I read in the appellate ruling it would behoove you to go through every relevant rule with a fine tooth comb and be sure to do everything required and then some because that is what courts do in pro se cases, they look for reasons to dismiss pro se cases on procedural technicalities. It’s a culture in the court system and that is exactly what they did in your case. I wish you the best.
Patt McGuire says
Mr. Brian Vukadinovich let me say thank you for your timely response to my case.
Can you direct me in the right direction on the topic of attorneys dropping out of my case. The two originals county counsels who have been on my case since the beginning drop out of the case. One requested to withdraw from the case and was granted permission; however, the other one did not. What they did was had another county counsel to file and entry of appearance in the case. She then filed for two extension to file a response brief to my brief. Both were granted.
I found out within that time that the last county counsel no longer work for the defendant which in turn means she was no longer representing the defendants. The only one representing the defendants is the new county counsel.
When I filed a motion to grant judgment and the requested relief on the grounds that the counsel failed to request permission from the court to withdraw before withdrawing and dropping the case, the new county counsel then filed a motion to substitute herself in place of the counsel who withdraw without permission..
Alone with this issue that is still sitting before the court, I am wondering what can I research to prepare for their response to my Notice of Appeal. As I said eariler, I have filed with the Federal Appeal Court all the filed evidence on my employment discrimination case. I have presented to the a CD of my oral argument on the Tampering Obstruction of Justice case and mostly everything I would have presented in court, if I was allowed a trial.
I am still working my job. I recently applied for my boss position because she is retiring next month. The interview went well; however, I have not heard anything from HR. My entire case is based on company “failure to promote me.” So when this position came open I applied. If I am not granted the position, I plan to file a motion for continuous failure to promote. I have been on my job since 2002 and full time since 2003 in the same position. Even though I have applies repeatedly down through the years, I have never been promoted. Since I have been employed with this company I have earn my Bachelor, Master’s, and Doctorate degree. Two of the three were in the field I work in. My company supported my advancement with tuition reimbursement through all advancements.
All of these facts have been repeated through the cases in the court. DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE AND SUGGESTIONS?
Thanks again!!!
Archana Ochaney says
This is very helpful to litigate as a pro-se plaintiff or defend any
opposition motions,
Monica says
I found this website, and I’m frustrated as a pro se litigant. My car was broken into at a hotel property where cameras recorded the thief breaking into my car. The mgr. wouldn’t release the video to me. I subsequently found out he tampered w/the evidence and destroyed the video to get rid of me. The police didn’t do their job of retrieving the video and pushed my case to the side. I have filed in small claims against the hotel, but I have been inundated w/discovery from opposing counsel. I’m beginning to feel like I don’t have a chance to win after talking with a volunteer attorney at a legal clinic. Three people have broken the law here, and it’s starting to look like no one will answer for what they did leaving me with the loss and letting the criminal walk free. Can you offer any suggestions? My trial is in 2 weeks.
Larry J. Kammer says
Hi, I read your blog at time. I like the manner in which you translate the subject it’s intriguing and the data you imparted to us is basic for general society.
Brian Vukadinovich says
Hello Larry,
I’m happy to hear that you find the subject matter of my blog helpful. I have a soft spot for pro se’s as I know how difficult the legal profession (lawyers) and the judiciary (judges) work at making things as difficult as possible for pro se’s to get a fair shake in court. I try to explain things to pro se’s in an honest and forthright manner as well as I can in order that the pro se’s can know what to expect and how to prepare and fight back. I’m hopeful that the blog can be helpful in that regard. Thanks for your nice comments, I truly appreciate it very much.
Brian
Brian Vukadinovich says
Hi Larry,
In my previous response I forgot to mention that Courtroom5 is starting a new podcast and I was honored to be Sonja’s first guest on Courtroom5’s new podcast show. Sonja did a great job putting it together and I hope the information I shared with her on the podcast will be helpful to the pro se’s out there.
Brian
https://get.courtroom5.com/brian-vukadinovich-i-am-not-a-lawyer/?fbclid=IwAR09tiJAhe_JHhwMu8XhizYhk1on6eOss2kiG3G8cQmEA4l26TaDfHxn2DA
Judith Rice says
I won a Final Judgment last February representing myself. I filed a Writ of Garnishment on the local bank to freeze the Defendant
accounts. The Bank has never answered the Writ. Statutes require an Answer in 20 days or the garnishee is responsible for the entire judgment. I have complained to Federal and State banking institutions. There is no credible excuse. The bank essentially said if I didn’t like it to sue them. So I did. I have a Default Judgment awaiting hearing. I have copies of all correspondence in an effort to settle over the last year. What do you think?
Brian Vukadinovich says
Sounds like you have a pretty good situation going on since you have obtained a default judgment. However, courts routinely vacate default judgments so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see them file a motion to vacate default judgment. If they do, the chances are real high that it would be granted as the case overwhelmingly favors vacating default judgments in favor of decisions on the merits if the defaulted party shows some type of acceptable excuse for not timely answering.
Janet says
For you for your service to all of us who persist in seeking justice !
I have been cheated by a U.S. Magistrate in a diversity situation, and wish to avoid a repeat. Without detailing it, the Court went against all the rules (maybe even criminally). The Judge doesn’t even rule on my objections and appeals. The case is wrongfully Stayed, and I think it will be kept there indefinitely. I find nothing that I can do about it.
Getting past that, i have now filed a different claim in my home state. The matter is related to the same circumstance and jurisdiction as the prior claim. The local U.S. Magistrate wants to hear reasons that the new case should not be transferred to the other District. Of course, I can present argument that I will not receive justice in the other U.S. Court, But I don’t think that such is considered a valid reason.
I very much need this new case to remain in my District. Can you offer any guidance or suggestions ?
Thank you.
Brian Vukadinovich says
Hi Janet. The first thing that comes to mind is why didn’t you file the case in your “home” state in the first place? If they realize you are “judge shopping” they won’t give you any relief so you have to have a valid reason for wanting to transfer the case. Transfer of federal cases from one state to another state is not uncommon and is done as a matter of course when the issue/question requires it, so it is something that can be done with a sound reason to do so, but they won’t want to do it if they think you are “judge shopping” and don’t have a valid reason for transferring the case.
Janet says
Hi; Thanks.The only reason I know to use is the corruption in the out-of state venue- I am assured of not getting a fair trial.
Maybe the fact that the out of state court place the case on stay in order to ‘control the docket schedule’ could work in my favor. It would seem that their docket is too full for pro-se cases.
If you have an idea, it is probably a good one!
Brian Vukadinovich says
If the reason is “corruption” in the out of state venue, then you will have to specify the “corruption” with some information beyond a general accusation. As for the issue of placing the case on stay in order to “control the docket schedule” because you believe their docket is too full for pro-se se cases, then it may take an extremely long time to get a resolution in your case, so that actually isn’t a very good scenario either. The bottom line is you are going to have to come up with a plausible reason for a transfer. Also, keep in mind that you also have a right to ask the regular district court judge to review any adverse rulings by the U.S. Magistrate who you say is cheating you. Judges for the most part rubber stamp the magistrates’ rulings, but not always, I have seen cases where the regular judge overruled a magistrates’ decision. So that is an option available to you if you want to use it.
Janet says
Thanks again.
Yes, I tried to get the Judge to review the Magistrate’s decisions, and also to investigate the items which indicate real corruption – I got the big rubber stamp.
From my limited knowledge of proceedings, I think my best chance at a fair trial is to convince my local US Court to keep the new claim here in my state. If they transfer it out of state (where the other related case is), I expect the same unfair treatment that I have been getting.