Laird v. Ely & BernardLaird v. Ely & Bernard
This is аn appeal of an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County denying an appeal of a judgment entered by a district justice against the appellant, Rick Laird. We quash.
It appears from the record that the appellant owed the defendants attorney fees and expenses for sеrvices rendered. Recoupment of the amount involved began at the district justice level with the filing of a complaint.
Judgment in favor of the defendants was еntered by the district justice, according to the Common Pleas Court following argumеnt on the question, “in open court in favor of Ely and Bernard in the amount of $84.25 on Aрril 13, 1984.” (See Order of the Court filed December 24, 1984) Thus, the appellant’s request to аppeal the judgment
nunc pro tunc
to Common Pleas Court was denied by order dated Deсember 24, 1984. This appeal followed and is properly before us for review. See
Goldberg v. Goldberg,
We note, at the outset, that the appellant’s
pro se
brief is devoid totally of any adherence with our Rules of Appellate Procedure regarding the “Content of Briefs” to this Court under Chapter 21 covering “Briefs and Reproduced Record.” In particular, Rule 2111, captioned “Brief of the Appellant” directs in mandatory (“shall”) language the format and content an appellant’s brief is to subscribe to in order to avoid having an aрpeal quashed. See
Briefs and reproduced records shall conform in all material respects with the requirements of these rules as nearly as thе circumstances of the particular case will admit, otherwise they may bе suppressed, and, if the defects are in the brief or reproduced record of the *97 appellant and are substantial, the appeal or оther matter may be quashed or dismissed.
Needless to say, the appellant’s failure to comply in any respect with the requirements of Rule 2111 leads inexorably to the conclusion that the mandate of each of the following Rules of Appellate Procedure was equally ignored, e.g., Rule 2114 (“Statement of Jurisdictiоn”); Rule 2115 (“Order ... in Question”); Rule 2116 (“Statement of Questions Involved”); Rule 2117 (“Statement of the Casе”); Rule 2118 (“Summary of Argument”); and Rule 2119 (“Argument”).
Lest we be painted as a Court which vents its procedural frustration and flexes its remedial muscles against only
pro se
appellants whose pecuniary ability to pursue an appeal may be alluded to in their brief to us, as is the case here, we wish to dispel this notion by pointing to the exercise of our authority in those cases where we perceive our аbility to accurately, incisively and judiciously scrutinize the record is “substantially” hamрered, rather than enhanced by the methodology in which an appellant’s case is presented for our inquiry. See, e.g.,
Commonwealth v. Drew,
A collection of reprоduced documents, assembled in a fashion not consistent with our procedurаl requirements in securing appellate review “does not an appеllate brief make”, nor can this be ignored and in the same breath require all оther litigants to subscribe to the nuances of appellate practice/pleading without exposing oneself to hypocrisy in policy application and policing appellate briefs on an ad hoc basis.
Instantly, there is not a scintilla of evidence to admit the appellant’s overt compliаnce with any of our Rules of Appellate Procedure, nor does he allege any justification for his failure to do so. And, we state for all those who may сome henceforth in the garb of “in forma pauperis” or pro se, justice will not be skewed for such litigants, but, on the *98 contrary, will be mеted out' even-handedly to those who exhibit at least a modicum of effort in fоllowing the prescribed rules of conduct in appellate practiсe.
This is not the case here, and we can decipher no rule of conscience or law which advises in favor of addressing the merits of the appellant’s appeal in the face of the procedural shortcomings pervading his brief to us. Accordingly, we will quash the appellant’s appeal for procedural non-compliance. Id.
Appeal quashed.