ALLEN VS. DIXON (CHILD CUSTODY)

Key holdings

Practitioner summary

The court dismissed the appeal for failure to prosecute after the pro se appellant failed to file required documents under the Nevada Rules of Appellate Procedure. After docketing on March 7, 2023, the clerk issued a deadline notice; appellant filed nothing. On April 25, 2023, the court ordered appellant to cure by filing the overdue transcript request form and docketing statement within 14 days, citing NRAP 3(a)(2), NRAP 3E(i), and NRAP 14(c), and warning that noncompliance could result in dismissal. Appellant neither filed the documents nor communicated with the court, and the fast track statement also became overdue. The court concluded appellant had abandoned the appeal and dismissed it.

In plain language

This is a child-custody appeal that never got off the ground. After Ms. Allen filed her appeal from a temporary custody order issued by a Clark County family court judge, the Nevada Supreme Court clerk sent her a notice explaining the deadlines for filing the documents and briefs that every appellant must submit to move an appeal forward. When Ms. Allen did not file those documents, the court entered an order on April 25, 2023, giving her 14 more days to file the overdue transcript request form and docketing statement. The court warned her that if she did not comply, her appeal could be dismissed. Ms. Allen still did not file the required documents, and she did not contact the court. Her fast track statement - a separate required filing in child-custody appeals - also became overdue. Concluding that she had abandoned the appeal, the Supreme Court dismissed it. The dismissal ends this appeal; the order does not address the merits of the underlying custody dispute.