Joseph Parrott, et al v. Douglas Neway, et al
- Summarized by Caleb Chaplain , U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia
- 2 months 3 weeks ago
- Case Type:
- Consumer
- Case Status:
- Reversed and Remanded
- Citation:
- 21-10718 (11th Circuit, Oct 11,2024) Published
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- The Eleventh Circuit held that the district court erred in dismissing the pro se debtors’ appeal for lack of jurisdiction and abused its discretion in dismissing the case as a sanction for noncompliance with court rules. The Eleventh Circuit vacated and remanded for the district court to consider the merits of the appeal.
- Procedural context:
- The Parrotts filed a chapter 13 petition with counsel, who later filed a motion to withdraw as counsel. While that motion to withdraw was pending, on January 29, the bankruptcy court issued a dismissal order. On February 5, the Parrotts filed a notice of appeal pro se. On February 6, the Court struck the notice of appeal because it was not signed by counsel (who had moved to withdraw as counsel). On February 18, the Parrotts filed their second notice of appeal pro se.
On appeal, the district court dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction due to the “untimely” notice of appeal and as a sanction for the Parrotts’ failure to comply with court rules and to respond properly to court orders. The Parrotts then appealed again to the Eleventh Circuit.
- Facts:
- The Parrotts filed a chapter 13 petition with counsel. Subsequently, however, their attorney filed a motion to withdraw as counsel, citing “irreconcilable differences.” While that motion to withdraw was pending, on January 29, the bankruptcy court issued a dismissal order to take effect on February 13. On February 5, the Parrotts filed a notice of appeal pro se. On February 6, the Court struck that notice of appeal because it was not signed by counsel who had moved to withdraw as the Parrotts' counsel. On February 18, the Parrotts filed their second notice of appeal.
- Judge(s):
- Rosenbaum, Abudu, and Tjoflat
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