If You Are Proceeding Pro Se In The Business Court It Is Best Not To Be Defiant

Brooks Pierce
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It's probably never a good idea to proceed without a lawyer in any Court, but if you are a non-lawyer and insist on proceeding pro se in the Business Court, don't be defiant and obnoxious.  You will not like the result.

Two of the Defendants (JW Ray and Digi-Plus LLC) in a case called London Leasing LLC v. Arcus  terminated the counsel representing them and decided to proceed on their own.

They did that in a high-handed and arrogant way. When Plaintiff's counsel called Ray to try to arrange a mediation, Defendant Ray told him that:

(1) neither Ray nor DigiPlus would attend any mediation in person, and would only attend by teleconference 'so that the mediator could explain to Plaintiff how absurd or ridiculous Plaintiff’s claims are in this lawsuit;'

(2) neither Ray nor DigiPlus would offer any payment towards a settlement;

(3) neither Ray nor DigiPlus would hire replacement counsel;

(4) neither Ray nor DigiPlus would respond to any discovery requests;

(5) neither Ray nor DigiPlus would pay any judgment levied against them in the lawsuit; and

(6) neither Ray nor DigiPlus would participate in the lawsuit unless they were “arrested for criminal conduct.”

Order ¶6.

As you can imagine, the (unpublished) Order entered by Judge McGuire was not complimentary of this discourtesy.  He stated that these two Defendants had "openly flouted this Court's [case management] order and the applicable North Carolina rules."  ¶14.

The relief granted by the Court in light of this rude behavior -- after ruling that lesser sanctions would be inadequate given the "seriousness of the misconduct" (Order ¶15)  -- was to strike the Answer of these Defendants and to enter default against them.

The only punishment not delivered by Judge McGuire was not noting that Ray was engaging in the unauthorized practice of law if he was also speaking on behalf of DigiPlus LLC.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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