You have probably heard the old truism about how a person
representing him or herself in a lawsuit has a fool for a client.
You'd think that having a pro se opponent would make
the case a breeze. Not necessarily. When we worked in the U.S.
Attorney's Office, that work seemed harder, not easier, when
prisoners scribbled their own complaints and briefs. That meant we
faced the extra step of trying to decode what the other side was
saying, or even should be saying. That also meant we often faced a
judge who was determined to cut plenty of slack for the
unrepresented party. To use a technical term, it was a pain.
Today's case, Vollrath v. DePuy Synthes Bus.
Entities, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10634 (D. Oregon Jan. 22,
2020), is a splendid illustration of the mischief wrought by
pro se parties — and wannabe parties. The case was
brought by a pro se plaintiff alleging that this modular
hip was defective in both design and manufacture. The complaint
included claims of
