Robert J. Doyle v. Jacqueline M. Vigilante

The Right to Sue and access to the courts are basic and fundamental rights provided for in the United States Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment also provides procedural due process protections, ensuring that litigants are treated equally and given the opportunity to be heard. In this case, a civil plaintiff’s legal malpractice lawsuit was dismissed by the district court without addressing one the claims alleged by the plaintiff. On appeal, the plaintiff squarely asked the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to remand so the unaddressed claim could be adjudicated. Despite this issue being the PlaintiffAppellant’s primary claim of error on appeal, it was entirely unaddressed by the Third Circuit’s written decision. This Court has never, to the best of Petitioner’s research, decided what Constitutional violations are implicated when a claim by a civil litigant was unaddressed both in the District Court and on review by a Court of Appeals. It is of the utmost importance that citizens have confidence that the courts will fully hear and resolve the disputes in front of them. The questions presented in this case, which are a matter of first impression, are: Whether or not the Right to Sue, Right to Access Courts to Be Heard, and Procedural Due Process Rights in the US Constitution require that a Court of Appeals, upon issuing a written opinion, address and resolve every issue raised and necessary to a final disposition of the appeal? Whether or not the Third Circuit Court of Appeals violated Petitioner’s due process rights, right to sue, and right of access to the courts by dismissing his appeal