In re Estate of Elizabeth Brown, a/k/a Letizia I. Brown

Citations

• 206 A.3d 127

Syllabus

The appellant, Mary Ryan, appealed pro se from an April 26, 2013 final judgment of the Providence County Superior Court and a June 5, 2013 order of the same court. The April 26, 2013 judgment denied and dismissed Ms. Ryan's probate appeal and prohibited Ms. Ryan, with significant exceptions, from \filing pleadings or other documents\ in Superior Court unless they have been signed by a Rhode Island licensed attorney. The June 5, 2013 order denied Ms. Ryan's motions to vacate which were filed pursuant to either Rule 59 or Rule 60 of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure. Ms. Ryan also raised the issue of the attorneys' fees awarded to opposing counsel in an April 22, 2013 order of the Superior Court. Ms. Ryan made numerous contentions of error on appeal. The Supreme Court held that Ms. Ryan failed to provide the necessary Superior Court transcripts for the Supreme Court to be in a position to review many of her contentions on appeal. However, based on the record before it, the Court instructed the Superior Court to moderately reduce the amount of attorneys' fees awarded to opposing counsel in the case and to limit the duration of the sanctions against Ms. Ryan with respect to filing pro se in Superior Court. With respect to the remaining contentions that were reviewable, the Court was unable to detect any reversible error on the part of the trial justice. Accordingly, the Court remanded with directions to modify the April 22, 2013 attorneys' fees order, affirmed in part and vacated in part the April 26, 2013 judgment, and affirmed the June 5, 2013 order of the Superior Court.