Brookshire

INTRODUCTION

Faced with a motion to have him declared a vexatious litigant, appellant C.L. Brookshire voluntarily dismissed this action without prejudice. The trial court proceeded to hear and grant the motion, declaring Brookshire a vexatious litigant on three independent grounds, and issuing a prefiling order under Code of Civil Procedure section 391.7. 1 Brookshire did not appeal the prefiling order. Instead, he filed a series of repetitive motions challenging the order, including three motions to vacate the order under section 473, subdivision (d). The court denied Brookshire’s first motion to vacate in a detailed decision after hearing, concluding, inter alia, that his voluntary dismissal of the action had not deprived the court of jurisdiction to enter the prefiling order. The court struck Brookshire’s second motion to vacate because, inter alia, Brookshire personally filed the motion without authorization from his then-counsel (who was later granted leave to withdraw from the representation). The court issued an order to show cause (OSC) why Brookshire should not be sanctioned for personally filing documents while represented by counsel, in violation of an earlier order of…