OPINION BY STEVENS, P.J.:
Appellant, Allen Feingold, files this pro se appeal from the May 13, 2010 order of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, sustaining Appellees' preliminary objections and dismissing Appellant's complaint with prejudice. After careful review, we affirm and find Appellant's complaint to be utterly frivolous. Due to Appellant's repetitive filing of baseless appeals in this Court, we sua sponte award all Appellees in the instant case attorney's fees and remand to the trial court for calculation of these fees.
Appellant, a former Pennsylvania attorney,
Appellant filed the instant lawsuit pro se on December 10, 2009 against all the defendants in the Davis action as well as all of the following parties: Zurich's attorneys, John P. Hendrzak, Esq. and the Law Office of John P. Hendrzak; State Farm's attorneys, Bruce Pancio, Esq., Theresa Simmons, Esq., and their firm, Palmer and Barr; the medical experts hired by the defense, Marc Manzione, M.D. and Pennsylvania Orthopedic Associated; the Davises themselves, Atty. Abraham, and Abraham, Bauer & Spalding, P.C. (referred to collectively as "Appellees"). Appellant generally claimed Appellees "conspired to damage ... [Appellant], by doing everything possible, whether proper, fraudulent, or improper," to deprive him of benefits he was allegedly entitled to, essentially attorney's fees in the Davis action. Complaint, at ¶ 34. Appellant accused all Appellees of "withholding proper, discoverable evidence [and] lying about its existence." Id. To further his attack, Appellant claimed Appellees employed Dr. Manzione as a medical expert to be "totally biased against the injured plaintiffs." Id.
All Appellees filed preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer and to challenge Appellant's lack of standing to sue. See Pa. R.C.P. 1028(a)(4)-(5). On May 13, 2010, the trial court sustained Appellees' preliminary objections and dismissed Appellant's complaint with prejudice. Appellant filed a notice of appeal on June 10, 2010. In response, the trial court entered an order docketed on June 25, 2010, directing Appellant to file a concise statement of matters complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) within twenty-one (21) days of its order. Twenty-four days later, Appellant filed his concise statement on July 19, 2010.
Before we reach the merits of Appellant's claims, we must decide whether they are preserved for our review under Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). This Court has held that "[w]henever a trial court orders an appellant to file a concise statement of matters complained of on appeal pursuant to Rule 1925(b), the appellant must comply in a timely manner." Hess v. Fox Rothschild, LLP, 925 A.2d 798, 803 (Pa.Super.2007) (emphasis in original) (citing Commonwealth v. Castillo, 585 Pa. 395, 403, 888 A.2d 775, 780 (2005)). In Castillo, our Supreme Court concluded that an untimely filing of a concise statement resulted in waiver of all issues on appeal and mandates dismissal of the appeal.
However, before we find waiver, we must determine whether the trial court's order directing Appellant to file a concise statement is proper:
Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b)(3).
In this case, the trial court's June 25, 2010 order properly directed Appellant to "file with the Office of the Prothonotary of Montgomery County a Concise Statement... within twenty-one (21) days from the date of this Order" and to serve a copy to the trial court. Trial Court Order, 6/25/10, at 1. The order also indicated that a "failure to timely file and serve said Statement shall be deemed a waiver of all claimed errors." Id. at 2. Appellant filed an untimely concise statement twenty-four days after the trial court's order. As a result, all of Appellant's issues are waived on appeal.
Even if we overlook waiver in this case, we find the trial court did not err in sustaining Appellees' preliminary objections and dismissing Appellant's complaint with prejudice. Our review of a challenge to a trial court's decision to grant preliminary objections is guided by the following standard:
Haun v. Community Health Systems, Inc., 14 A.3d 120, 123 (Pa.Super.2011)
First, we agree with the trial court that Appellant lacks standing to bring this lawsuit to recover attorney's fees from all Appellees for his prior representation of Leigh Davis, Jerry Davis, and Davis, Inc.
Johnson v. American Standard, ___ Pa. ___, 8 A.3d 318, 329 (2010).
In his complaint, Appellant baldly asserts that Appellees' wrongful conduct prevented him from collecting attorney's fees in the Davis action. As the Davis action was dismissed as a non-suit, likely due to Appellant's failure to notify his clients of their scheduled trial date and his suspension from the practice of law, any potential fees to which Appellant might have been entitled are merely speculative. Even if
Further, Appellant's complaint is also legally insufficient as it is devoid of factual averments that would entitle him to relief on any of his claims. It is well-established that a plaintiff must provide sufficient factual averments in his on her complaint to sustain a cause of action. "Pennsylvania is a fact-pleading state; a complaint must not only give the defendant notice of what the plaintiff's claim is and the grounds upon which it rests, but the complaint must also formulate the issues by summarizing those facts essential to support the claim." Foster v. UPMC South Side Hosp., 2 A.3d 655, 666 (Pa.Super.2010) (quoting Lerner v. Lerner, 954 A.2d 1229, 1235 (Pa.Super.2008)).
Appellant's complaint contains five untitled sections in which he appears to raise claims of civil conspiracy, defamation, fraud, abuse of process, and intentional infliction of emotional distress against all Appellees. However, when reviewing these claims, we agree with the trial court's finding that Appellant's complaint "contains nothing more than conclusory[,] unsubstantiated suspicions and allegations that [Appellees] engaged in improper and fraudulent conduct intended to deprive [Appellant] of money to which he was allegedly entitled." Trial Court Opinion, 8/12/10, at 8. Although Appellant set forth the elements of each claim, he has pled no material facts that, if proven, would entitle him to relief. As the trial court has explained why each of Appellant's claims is legally insufficient, we rely on the trial court's thorough, well-reasoned opinion.
We note with displeasure that Appellant has filed nearly identical lawsuits against other defendants, along with their attorneys, insurance companies, and medical experts. In each case, Appellant claims all parties conspired to withhold discovery and abused the legal process to Appellant's detriment, intending to deprive him of counsel fees and to cause him emotional distress. This Court has affirmed the dismissal of these mirror lawsuits for Appellant's failure to plead any material facts, as seen in this Court's opinion in Feingold v. Hill, 360 Pa.Super. 539, 521 A.2d 33 (1987):
Id. at 38-39 (some citations omitted) (emphasis added).
In disregard of this Court's ruling, Appellant has continued his pattern of vexatious litigation against other defendants, but none of his complaints have survived preliminary objections to their legal insufficiency.
We cannot ignore Appellant's repeated abuse of the court system to harass defendants and opposing counsel with lawsuits that contain nothing more than unfounded allegations. Our rules of appellate procedure allow this Court to sua sponte impose an award of reasonable counsel fees against a party if we determine that "the appeal is wholly frivolous ... or that the conduct of the participant against whom costs are to be imposed is dilatory, obdurate or vexatious." Pa.R.A.P. 2744. As explained above, it is blatantly clear that Appellant filed this frivolous lawsuit and subsequent appeal to vex Appellees with complete disregard for our court system, our rules of civil procedure, and the legal profession. We find it appropriate to award all Appellees counsel fees to deter Appellant from filing frivolous actions in the future. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's order sustaining Appellees' preliminary objections and dismissing Appellant's complaint with prejudice. We remand to the trial court for the calculation of reasonable counsel fees.
Affirmed. Remanded for the imposition of counsel fees. Jurisdiction relinquished.