Another Small Win for Laura Lynn Hammett: Pro Se Litigant Perseveres [Updated, Again]

I am not an attorney, and this is not legal advice.

I recommend you don’t try this at home.

So odd. Judge Janis Sammartino granted attorney fees against me on an anti-SLAPP motion in California. She said that since I voluntarily dismissed the suit, my opponent was the prevailing party. Linda Lopez agreed, and denied my motion for reconsideration of attorney fees.

But I dismissed the suit because it was on behalf of a legal entity, and I am not an attorney. I am not allowed to advocate for anyone but myself. The cause of action was void, a complete nullity.

I filed an appeal. My opponents responded. I replied. Months went by.

Suddenly, Judge Linda Lopez filed an order denying attorney fees. I was perplexed. I thought Judge Lopez was changing her mind, based on arguments I made at appeal, and that she lacked jurisdiction.

Take a moment. Breathe.

Look through the docket. Ah Ha. The explanation is that the attorney defendants asked for a second batch of attorney fees and their motion was fully briefed about 10 months ago. I was sick as a dog then. I could barely lift my head off the pillow. I received Judge Linda Lopez’s order dismissing my case and never noticed that she failed to address the attorney fees motions pending at the same time.

The order denying attorney fees is downloadable below. It is your FREE Doc of the Day.

I can’t get too excited. Judge Lopez still refused to recognize that the entire pleading was void ab initio. She made her order without prejudice and gave my opponents, attorneys represented by attorneys, another bite at the apple.

Can a court make an order on attorney fees after an appeal is filed?

I think not.

“An appropriate appeal divests a trial court of jurisdiction ‘with regard to all matters embraced within or affected by the judgment which is the subject of the appeal.’ Lowder v. Mills, Inc., 301 N.C. 561 (1981)”, says University of North Carolina Law School Professor Cheryl Howell. This is not in the right jurisdiction, but I am guessing the same rule applies across all jurisdictions.

“After a party gives notice of appeal, the trial judge is functus officio and any judgment entered thereafter is void. In addition to Ponder, see Romulus v. Romulus, 216 N.C. App. 28 (2011)(no jurisdiction to determine amount owing on a distributive award in an ED case); France v. France, 209 NC App 406 (2011)(no jurisdiction after appeal of denial of request to close court)”. Read the exceptions here.

Judge Linda may be bummed out when she has an order overturned on appeal that was fought by a pro se, non-attorney litigant. And she will probably feel a little flushed when she is in confirmation hearings for her next promotion and some Republican Senator pulls out a copy of this Doc of the Day.