Lawyers Representing Themselves Can’t Expect Pro Se Leniency

A pro se litigant who is also a licensed attorney need not be granted the same “pleading leniency” as non-lawyers who represent themselves in court, the D.C. Circuit said.

The requirement to afford a “liberal construction” to a typical pro se plaintiff’s pleadings does not apply to pro se attorneys, the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in a July 23 opinion.

“Trained lawyers are generally not unsophisticated litigants in need of special protections,” Judge Neomi Rao wrote.

Jo Spence was fired after working as an attorney at the Department of Veterans Affairs for 11 years. She ...