Pro Se Civil Appeals —Resources and Opportunities, 0616 COBJ, Vol. 45 No. 6 Pg. 57

AuthorMarcy Glenn

45 Colo.Law. 57

Pro Se Civil Appeals —Resources and Opportunities

Vol. 45 No. 6 [Page 57]

The Colorado Lawyer

June, 2016

Marcy Glenn

This column provides practical, how-to articles on appellate practice that discuss recent decisions from the Colorado Supreme Court, the Colorado Court of Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Tenth Circuit. Column Editors Marcy G. Glenn (mglenn@hollandhart.com), Christina F. Gomez (cgomez@hollandhart.com), and Stephen G. Masciocchi (smasciocchi@hollandhart.com) are partners with the law firm of Holland & Hart LLP, and are members of the firm's Appellate Practice Group. Reader feedback is welcome.

Appellate Practice

About the Author

Marcy G. Glenn is a partner in the Appellate Practice Group at Holland & Hart LLP. For more than 30 years, she has litigated appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals, Colorado appellate courts, and other states' appellate courts. She also regularly handles complex trial-level briefing—mglenn@hollandhart.com.

This is the second of two articles on the subject of pro se civil appeals in Colorado state courts and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The first article, published in the March 2016 issue, discussed the prevalence of self-representation in state and federal courts in Colorado, considered the implications of pro se representation in appeals, and identified special legal standards and rules applicable to those appeals.1 This article reports on resources available to self-represented appellate litigants and opportunities for lawyers who wish to represent or in other ways assist parties who otherwise would proceed pro se in non-criminal appeals.2 It also provides several practice pointers for lawyers involved in appeals in which another party is self-represented.

Resources and Opportunities in the Colorado Appellate Courts

Pro se litigants in the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals have three principal resources for assistance:

• the Colorado Bar Association's Appellate Pro Bono Program;

• the self-represented litigant coordinator for the Colorado appellate courts; and

• limited "unbundled" legal services under Colorado Appellate Rule 5(e).

These avenues provide corresponding opportunities for lawyers to represent appellate litigants on a pro bono basis or to provide limited representation on either a pro bono or fee basis.

The CBA 's Appellate Pro Bono Program

In 2010, the CBA, working in close collaboration with Metro Volunteer Lawyers, launched its Appellate Pro Bono Program. The program matches volunteer pro bono attorneys with indigent litigants who would otherwise appear pro se in civil cases pending before the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals.3

In the Supreme Court, pro bono assistance may be available in connection with petitions and opposition briefs in certiorari proceedings; petitions and opposition briefs in original proceedings under CAR 21; merits briefing and oral argument when the Supreme Court agrees to accept an appeal over which it has discretionary jurisdiction; and merits briefing and argument in direct appeals as of right to the Supreme Court4 The Appellate Pro Bono Program excludes, in addition to criminal cases, Supreme Court appeals involving post-conviction criminal relief, habeas corpus petitions, prison discipline, ballot title appeals, and election appeals.5 In the Court of Appeals, the program is available for all stages of all civil cases except unemployment compensation and prison inmate disciplinary appeals.6

Pro se appeals vary in their strength and the potential significance of their outcomes. As a result, the Appellate Pro Bono Program uses an application process to select the appeals it will accept7 The Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court, and some district courts notify self-represented appellants and petitioners of the existence of the program, but it is up to the individual litigant to submit an application, and the applicant remains responsible for satisfying all appellate deadlines and other requirements during the pendency of the application.8 Appellate judges and justices also may refer cases to this program.[9]

A seven-lawyer screening committee reviews applications, applying these substantive criteria to select appeals that are appropriate for inclusion in the Appellate Pro Bono Program:

• indigency (125% of the federal poverty guidelines);

• whether the appeal raises one or more issues of first impression;

• the complexity of the issues on appeal;

• the potential merit of the applicant's position;

• whether the appeal involves recurring issues that may otherwise evade review;

• whether the appellate court has requested briefing by a pro bono attorney;

• whether the appeal seeks to vindicate significant constitutional or statutory rights;

• the number of appeals assigned to pro bono attorneys through the program at the time of the application; and

• the number of available volunteer lawyers.[10]

While indigency is an absolute prerequisite to participation in the program, the remaining factors are discretionary.11

Once the screening committee accepts an application for participation in the Appellate Pro Bono Program, the committee seeks to match the pro se party with a qualified attorney from its list of volunteer attorneys.[12] Lawyers without significant appellate experience and law students are paired with experienced mentors.13 As a result, the program provides an excellent opportunity for an attorney or law student to learn appellate practice and procedure and gain valuable first-chair experience, including potentially at oral arguments; the Colorado appellate courts determine whether to set argument in appeals in the program on an individual basis, as they do in all appeals. More experienced appellate lawyers can hone their skills while assisting clients in need. Through the program's affiliation with Metro Volunteer Lawyers, participating attorneys obtain malpractice insurance coverage and credit for participation in a recognized pro bono program.14

In its first five-plus years of operation, the Appellate Pro Bono Program has received 310 applications and has matched pro se parties with volunteer attorneys in 56 appeals.[15] Five of those placements followed referrals by the appellate court. Of the 56 total appeals to-date, 46 were in the Colorado Court of Appeals and 10 were in the Colorado Supreme Court. Thus far, volunteer attorneys have represented the appellant in 36 Court of Appeals cases, the appellee in 10 Court of Appeals cases, and the petitioner in 10 Supreme...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT