Background
Barry and Yolanda Percelle sued Freedom Mortgage Corporation and Real Star Property Management in the Western District of Texas. The district court granted both defendants’ motions for summary judgment and dismissed the Percelles’ claims after the Percelles failed to respond to the summary-judgment motions.
On appeal, the Percelles argued that the district court improperly denied their motion for a temporary restraining order without balancing the equities under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65. They also alleged procedural-due-process error concerning Real Star’s untimely response following removal and asserted that the district court failed to address spoliation, concealment, removal defects, and a state-court bond.
The Court’s Holding
The Fifth Circuit affirmed. It held that the Percelles forfeited any argument that the district court erred in granting summary judgment based on their failure to respond to the defendants’ motions because they did not raise that contention on appeal.
The court further held that, even construing the pro se Percelles’ briefing liberally, they abandoned the issues they did identify because they failed to brief them adequately as required by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28(a)(8)(A). The court therefore did not reach the merits of their challenges concerning injunctive relief, due process, spoliation, concealment, removal, or the bond.
Key Takeaways
- An appellant forfeits a challenge to the basis of a summary-judgment ruling by failing to raise that challenge in the appellate brief.
- Pro se litigants receive liberal construction of their filings, but they must still adequately brief their appellate arguments.
- Listing alleged errors without sufficient legal argument does not preserve those issues for appellate review.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that appellate briefing rules can be dispositive. An appeal may fail without consideration of the underlying merits when the brief neither challenges the district court’s stated basis for judgment nor adequately develops the issues presented.