My civil case against another person was dismissed in superior court by a judge who is a friend?

of the opposing attorney, ( i was pro se ). i was never allowed oral argument. nor was i ever given a proper hearing where i could argue my case. i motioned the judge to reconsider, but he denied my motion.


can i ask for a new hearing? if not, what can i do to have my case heard properly, where i will be allowed to provide my evidence?My civil case against another person was dismissed in superior court by a judge who is a friend?
Although the situation you describe, having a judge rule in your case when (s)he is a friend of the opposing attorney, may in your mind create the appearance of impropriety, I have to tell you that, from a legal perspective, it probably does not. Judges see particular defense attorneys in their courtrooms often enough and over long enough periods of time that it would be absolutely impossible to create rules forbidding them to be friends with attorneys who appear before them, particularly when they may have many lawyers as friends when they first become judges (from law school, from private practice, and other social situations).





However, it is a very serious thing to allege that a judge has been influenced in his or her decision by the fact that a lawyer in one of their cases is a friend. Rule 3.5 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct states:


A lawyer shall not


(a) seek to influence a judge, juror, prospective juror or other official by means prohibited by law;


(b) communicate ex parte with such person except as permitted by law; or


(c) engage in conduct intended to disrupt a tribunal.





Being someone's friend does not violate this rule; you would have to have reason to think that the friend in question sought to influence the judge by some prohibited means, for instance, trying to bribe him or her, or something of a similarly serious nature. Without knowing more about your situation, and based on your description, that does not seem to be the case here.





It sounds to me as if you have already asked for a new hearing and you were rejected. You can, of course, appeal. Without knowing which court you were in (federal, state, which state....) I cannot tell you what the specific rules are for filing an appeal. I can tell you in a very tentative way that sometimes you have ten days to file notice of intent to appeal, but do NOT go by this alone, because court rules vary quite a bit.





However, I should tell you that filing an appeal will probably not give you the type of hearing you seem to want- in which you can say what you want, talk about whatever evidence you choose to bring up- at least, not right away. There is an expression- trial courts try defendants; appellate courts try the trial judge. On appeal, you can (generally) ask the higher court to review the lower court's decision for clear error, or perhaps make allegations about the lawyer in question violating Rule 3.5 if you have some solid reason to think there was a violation. However, appeals courts are not the place to bring up new evidence, make new arguments, bring out witnesses or documents. That is the kind of thing for a trial court, alone.





If your case was dismissed without a hearing, then your suit must have been found to fail to state a claim, or something similar. If by some chance it was dismissed without prejudice, or with leave to file again, then you *might* be able to redraft your complaint and file it again, but it sounds to me like going it alone would not be your best move, here. If you really do have a case and you were not able to state it on your own the first time, then filing pro se is not going to be a good idea. I would suggest you take your case to an actual lawyer as quickly as possible.





Disclaimer: I am a lawyer, but not yours. I suggest you consult a lawyer with more specifics about your situation.