7th Circuit Warns of Dangers of Computers and Tequila, But Gives E-Filer a Pass
Chicago solo practitioner Edmund Benedict Moran Jr. says he breathed a sigh of a relief when a federal appeals court ruled Monday that a typographical error leading to a technical glitch didn’t bar his appeal.
The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a per curiam decision that the appeal should be allowed, despite a typographical error that made it appear the appeal notice was filed too late, the National Law Journal reports.
Moran had used the wrong event code when he tried to send notice of the appeal through the mandatory electronic filing system, the story says. Moran thought he had filed his notice March 12, the last day of the appeal period, until the court clerk notified him of the error three days later. When he corrected the problem March 18, the computer didn’t recognize the original filing date, and deemed his notice to be filed six days too late.
The 7th Circuit gave Moran a pass, saying there are bound to be mistakes as lawyers become accustomed to e-filing. But in a warning to other e-filers, the court referred to a “not so old adage” quoted in another opinion: “A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history—with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila.”
The opinion (PDF) is Vince v. Rock County.
