Locher & Davis, PLC v. Ruth F. Woller Revocable Trust
Locher & Davis, PLC, Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
Ruth F. Woller Revocable Trust, Defendant.
Attorney for Appellant
Herbert G. Woller, self-represented trustee of appellant
Attorney for Appellee
Todd J. Locher
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Laura Parrish, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Schumacher, P.J., Langholz, J., and Vogel, S.J. Opinion by Langholz, J. Dissent by Vogel, S.J. (16 pages)
The Ruth F. Woller Revocable Trust appeals the orders denying its motion for an extension of time to respond to Locher & Davis PLC’s request for admissions and its post-judgment motion to dismiss the petition for lack of service. OPINION HOLDS: Under our deferential standard of review, we cannot say that the district court abused its discretion in denying the trust’s extension request. And the court did not err in denying the motion to dismiss filed after the entry of summary judgment—at that point, the case was complete and it was too late to seek dismissal of the suit. DISSENT ASSERTS: Because the nonlawyer trustee may not represent the trust in this civil action, I would not reach the merits and instead dismiss this unauthorized appeal.
