Court Opinion

ID: 9785789
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 22:20:43.476527+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:01.660235
License: Public Domain

Judge TAUBMAN
dissenting.
Because I agree with plaintiff, Kenneth E. Yadon, that the certificate of review statute does not apply to actions brought by nonat-torney pro se litigants, I respectfully dissent.
Yadon filed a pro se complaint against defendant, Stanton E. Southward, alleging that he negligently performed surgery on one of Yadon’s toes. Although Yadon initially filed a certificate of review, which he had signed, alleging that he had consulted with a physician, the trial court dismissed this action after finding that Yadon had not established good cause for a late filing of a certificate of review signed by a physician. At the same time, Yadon contended that the certificate of review statute did not apply to him.
In interpreting the certificate of review statute, the court must apply the rules of statutory construction. When construing a statute, the court must ascertain and give effect to the intent of the General Assembly. State v. Nieto, 993 P.2d 493 (Colo.2000). To discern that intent, we must first examine the plain language of the statute. United Airlines, Inc. v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 993 P.2d 1152 (Colo.2000). In so doing, words and phrases should be given their plain and ordinary meaning, unless the result is absurd. Dover Elevator Co. v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 961 P.2d 1141 (Colo.App.1998).
Further, it is presumed that the General Assembly meant what it clearly said. Askew v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 927 P.2d 1333 (Colo.1996). To effectuate reasonably the legislative intent, a statute must be read and considered as a whole and should be interpreted to give consistent, harmonious, and sensible effect to all its parts. People v. Dist. Court, 713 P.2d 918 (Colo.1986).
Additionally, we are not to presume that the legislative body used language idly and with no intent that meaning should be given to it. See Colo. Ground Water Comm’n v. Eagle Peak Farms, 919 P.2d 212 (Colo.1996). We must respect the words chosen by the General Assembly. See Zamarripa v. Q & T Food Stores, Inc., 929 P.2d 1332 (Colo.1997).
The certificate of review requirements, which apply to actions against licensed pro*915fessionals, are contained in §§ 13-20-601 and 13-20-602, C.R.S.2002. As the majority notes, Yadon relies on § 13-20-602(l)(a) and (3)(a), C.R.S.2002, to support his argument.
Section 13-20-602(l)(a) provides in pertinent part as follows: “In every action for damages or indemnity based upon the alleged professional negligence of ... a licensed professional, the plaintiff’s or complainant’s attorney shall file loith the court a certificate of review (Emphasis added.)
Section 13-20-602(3)(a) provides in pertinent part: “A certificate of review shall be executed by the attorney for the plaintiff or complainant declaring: (I) That the attorney has consulted a person who has expertise in the area of the alleged negligent conduct .... ” (Emphasis added.)
In my view, these provisions contemplate that a certificate of review must be filed only in those actions in which a plaintiff is represented by an attorney. The above-quoted statutes should be interpreted as written, and that interpretation does not lead to an unreasonable result.
This is not the first time that the General Assembly has enacted separate statutory provisions for attorneys and nonattorney pro se litigants. In § 13-17-102, C.R.S.2002, which concerns the award of attorney fees for frivolous and groundless litigation, the General Assembly provided a standard for nonattorney pro se litigants different from that for other parties and attorneys representing them. See § 13-17-102(6), C.R.S. 2002 (“No party who is appearing without an attorney shall be assessed attorney fees unless the court finds that the party clearly knew or reasonably should have known that his action or defense, or any part thereof, was substantially frivolous, substantially groundless, or substantially vexatious; except that this subsection (6) shall not apply to situations in which an attorney licensed to practice law in this state is appearing without an attorney, in which case, he shall be held to the standards established for attorneys elsewhere in this article.”).
Significantly, § 13-20-602(5), C.R.S.2002, provides that the certificate of review requirements “shall not affect the rights and obligations under section 13-17-102.” This indicates to me that the General Assembly was well aware that if a negligence action were filed by a nonattorney pro se litigant against a licensed professional, § 13-17-102 would curtail the filing of frivolous and groundless actions.
Not only has the General Assembly differentiated between nonattorney pro se litigants and parties represented by attorneys, so too has the supreme court. See C.R.C.P. 16(b) (establishing different procedures for case management order for pro se parties and for parties represented by counsel).
Although the supreme court has held that both pro se litigants and those with lawyers are bound by the same rules of procedure and evidence, see Viles v. Scofield, 128 Colo. 185, 261 P.2d 148 (1953), this holding only applies when the rules are the same. It does not apply when the relevant rules or statutes expressly establish different procedures for represented and unrepresented litigants.
While there is broad language in State v. Nieto, supra, 993 P.2d at 502, that the certificate of review statute addresses “all civil actions for professional negligence,” the supreme court there was concerned with a different issue — whether the statute applies when a plaintiff sues the employer of the licensed professional. After concluding that the certificate of review statutes were ambiguous, the court discussed the relevant legislative history, including the bill sponsor’s remark that the bill was meant to supplement existing legislation “to prevent lawyers from bringing lawsuits against professionals that are without foundation.” State v. Nieto, supra, 993 P.2d at 503 (quoting Hearing on H.B. 1201 Before the House Judiciary Committee, 56th General Assembly, First Regular Session, Mar. 3, 1987). These statements were echoed by Neil Hillyard, then president of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, who testified that the certificate of review bill was intended to prevent lawyers from filing frivolous litigation.
Thus, to the extent that the language in §§ 13-20-601 and 13-20-602 is ambiguous, the relevant legislative history indicates that the General Assembly intentionally specified that attorneys must file certificates of review.
*916While it may seem unreasonable at first blush that the General Assembly intended to exempt nonattorney pro se litigants from the certificate of review requirement, the proceedings in this very case demonstrate the wisdom of limiting the requirement to attorneys. Here, as noted, Yadon initially filed a certificate of review which he himself had signed. Yadon attempted as best he could to comply with his understanding of the certificate of review requirement by filing his own statement and attaching documents of a related Podiatry Board disciplinary proceeding addressing defendant’s records of his treatment. He also indicated that he had contacted a physician who had concluded that his claim did not lack substantial justification. Because the trial court was dissatisfied with this attempt to comply with the certificate of review statutes, it required Yadon to obtain an affidavit from the physician to whom he had referred in his own certificate of review. Yadon encountered difficulty obtaining an affidavit from that physician and ultimately was unable to comply with the trial court’s order to file a certificate of review signed by a physician within a short period. Yadon’s problems may be similar to those of other pro se litigants.
Indeed, the difficulties encountered by judges in dealing with pro se litigants are well recognized. “Increasingly, judges are required to spend additional time in court providing explanations of the process and the legal system.” Colorado Supreme Court Judicial Advisory Council, Committee on Pro Se Litigants, Report 6 (Apr.1998). That report in turn quoted a 1998 “Report of the Committee of Chief Judges on Litigants without Lawyers,” noting that problems created for judges by pro se litigants “often cause unnecessary delays and drag out litigation over issues that could have been resolved in advance.” Certainly, it is reasonable to assume that the General Assembly contemplated that the difficulty nonattorney pro se litigants would experience in attempting to comply with a certificate of review requirement was simply not worth the effort. At the same time, § 13-17-102(6) would adequately guard against frivolous actions by nonattorney pro se litigants.
If the plain words of the statute “[do] not correspond to the General Assembly’s intent, it is for that body, not this court, to rewrite it.” Humane Soc’y v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 26 P.3d 546, 548 (Colo.App.2001); see also Martin v. People, 27 P.3d 846, 848 (Colo.2001)(“[i]t is for the legislature, not the courts, to decide what laws best serve the public interest”).
Accordingly, I would reverse the judgment and remand to the trial court with directions that Yadon be permitted to litigate this case without filing a certificate of review.