J

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NON
- PRECEDENTIAL DECISION
- SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

JAISA CORREA

v.

CHRISTOPHER LAMBERTON

Appellant :
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
: IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

PENNSYLVANIA

No. 272 MDA 2021 Appeal from the Order Entered January 22, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County Civil Division at No(s): 2020 FC 40582

BEFORE: BOWES, J., OLSON, J., and KING, J.

JUDGMENT ORDER BY OLSON, J.: FILED: DECEMBER 15, 2021
Appellant, Christopher Lamberton, appeals from the order entered on
January 22, 2021, which denied his petition to vacate a final order entered
against him pursuant to the Protection F rom Abuse (“PFA”) Act , 23 Pa.C.S.A.

§§ 6101

- 6122. We dismiss this appeal.

B riefly , we summarize the relevant facts and pr ocedural history as

follows. Appellant and Jaisa Correa are unmarried but share a minor child

. Trial Court Opinion, 5/17/21, at 1. On June 15, 2020, Ms. Correa filed for and
was granted a temporary PFA order against Appellant. Id. Thereafter, on

Septe mber 2, 2020, a three

- year final PFA order was entered by agreement
of the parties. Id. at 2.; see also F inal PFA Order, 9/2/20.
On January 6, 2021, Appellant filed a petition to vacate the final PFA

order. Trial Court Opinion, 5/17/21, at 2. The trial court held a hearing onJ

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- 2

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Appellant’s petition on January 22, 2021. Id. At the conclusion of this
hearing, the trial court denied Appellant’s petition. This timely appeal

followed. 1

After receiving an extension, Appellant ’s counsel, Andrew Joseph
Katsock, III, Esquire (Attorney Katsock) , filed a timely brief on July 30, 2021.
Appellant , acting pro se , requested oral argument befo re this Court. See
Reply Letter, 8/22/21. Accordingly, this Court scheduled oral argument for

October 13, 2021 and notified the parties. See Superior Court Letter, 9/8/21.
On October 6, 2021, Attorney Katsock petitioned this Court for leave to

withdr aw as counsel for Appellant pursuant to Rule 1.16(a)(3) of the
Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct which obligates withdrawal when
a client discharges an attorney from representation. See Attorney Katsock ’s
Petition, 10/6/21. We granted Attorney K atsock’s petition to withdraw on

October 8, 2021 in a per curiam order and directed the Prothonotary to send
a copy of that order to both Attorney Katsock and Appellant. See Per Curiam

Order, 10/8/21. On the same date, w e sent a letter directly to Appellant , identical to the one sent on September 8, 2021, reminding Appellant that his

_________________ __________ ______ ____ _______

1 Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal on February 22, 2021. Pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b), on March 3, 2021, the trial court ordered Appellant to file a concise statement of errors complained of on appeal, w hich Appellant timely filed on March 24, 2021. The trial court issued its 1925(a) opinion on May 17, 2021.J

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appeal was listed for oral argument on October 13, 2021. See Superior Court

Letter, 10/8/21.
Despite requesting oral argument before this Court, Appell ant
discharged his counsel and subsequently failed to appear at the scheduled
proceeding. Pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 2314, “[i]f appellant or the moving party
is not ready to proceed when the case is called for oral argument, the matter
may be dismissed as of course.” Consequently , we dismiss this appeal. 2

Appeal dismissed. Jurisdiction relinquished.
Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq. Prothonotary

Date: 12/15/2021

_________________ __________ ______ ____ _______

2 Even if we were to consider the case on the merits, we would affirm. All of Appellant’s arguments on appeal involve challenges to the propriety of the final PFA order entered on September 2, 2020. See Appellant’s Brief at 4

- 5. Appellant, however, concedes that “there is no dispute as to whether the Appellant understood that he agreed to a PFA involving [Ms. Correa.]” Id. at 11. Accordingly , Ap pellant’s arguments lack merit and we would affirm the trial court’s determination if we were to address the substance of this dispute

.