CIVIL PROCEDURE
Supreme Court of Alaska (2022)
Alex Bartlow
In Mulligan v. State, Department of Law, No. S-18019, 2022 WL 2066044 (Alaska June 8, 2022) (unpublished), the supreme court held that although self-represented litigants are held to a less stringent standard, they must provide more than a cursory statement of the argument(s) on appeal in their appellate brief or else the argument(s) will be considered waived. (Id. at *3). Mulligan, a self-represented litigant, filed a complaint alleging personal injury, false arrest, malicious prosecution, and defamation relating to her arrest a year earlier. (Id. at *1). The superior court dismissed Mulligan’s complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. (Id.). On appeal, the supreme court affirmed the dismissal of Mulligan’s complaint, reasoning that Mulligan had waived any argument that might allow her to succeed in overturning the superior court’s dismissal. (Id.). The court reasoned that Mulligan’s arguments on appeal were considered waived because her appellate brief only made factual arguments which were unrelated to the reasons the superior court dismissed the complaint. (Id.). Affirming the lower court’s decision, the supreme court held that although self-represented litigants are held to a less stringent standard, they must provide more than a cursory statement of the argument(s) on appeal in their appellate brief or else the argument(s) will be considered waived. (Id. at *3).
