Background
Lakisha Green filed a pro se civil action alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act against Experian Information Solutions and Transunion. After Green filed a notice of voluntary dismissal requesting dismissal with prejudice, she later moved for relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure sixty-one and Rule sixty-one. The district court denied the motion under Rule sixty-one. Green appealed the dismissal but did not file a separate notice of appeal from the denial of her Rule sixty-one motion.
The court’s reasoning
The court explained that while Green timely appealed the dismissal with prejudice, she exclusively contested the denial of her Rule sixty-one motion without filing a notice of appeal from that specific order. Because she did not appeal the denial of the Rule sixty-one motion, the court lacked jurisdiction over that ruling. Furthermore, Green failed to brief any challenge to the order of dismissal or any preceding adjudication. Consequently, the court found that Green had abandoned any relevant appellate arguments.
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces that pro se litigants must strictly adhere to appellate filing requirements to preserve claims, particularly when seeking relief from judgment after a voluntary dismissal.