In Pro Per Appellant Struggled With Appeals Process.
Plainitff Denardo, in propria persona, sued Defendant Givens for damages in a dispute arising from a real estate transaction. With the assistance of counsel, Givens and Denardo mediated their dispute and entered into a written settlement agreement. Denardo received an initial settlement payment, but did not dismiss the lawsuit. Having second thoughts about completing the settlement, she filed a "Notice of Motion and Motion to Set Aside the Conditional Settlement." Givens filed a motion to enforce the settlement under Code of Civ. Proc., section 664.6. The trial court granted Givens' motion and awarded him attorney fees. Denardo appeared pro se at a hearing on her motion, but neither party informed the court of an intent to appear or contest a tentative ruling. The court ordered the case dismissed, and entered judgment, from which Denardo appealed, again in pro se. Denardo v. Givens, A147537 (1/5 9/25/17) (Bruiniers, Simons, Needham) (unpublished).
Affirmed.
COMMENT: It is a real uphill battle to set aside a signed settlement agreement entered into by competent parties represented by counsel in a mediation. I infer from the fact that Denardo filed a supplemental complaint for Elder Abuse that she was old. Except for the mediation, she appears to have been in pro per during most of the trial court proceedings, and the appeal. The Court signals that Denardo may have a poor grasp of what she is doing: "We begin by reiterating settled rules of appellate review, often unfamiliar to pro se litigants," Justice Bruiniers explains. According to the Court, Denardo made mistakes typical of pro per parties: she made "minimal reference to the trial record," she incorporated "extended recitals of 'facts' without any apparent basis in the record," and she dwelled on the merits of her underlying action, though she should have focused on the flaws in the settlement. The Court of Appeal struggled to understand her contentions, which the Court enumerated, "as best we can discern."
Woe betide the in pro per appellant, especially one trying to set aside a signed settlement agreement.
I note in passing that, according to legal reporter Adam Liptak's "exit interview" with Judge Richard Posner, the immediate reason for the judge's abrupt announcement of his retirement from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals was his frustration with the plight of in pro per litigants in the legal system.
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