Lawyer’s Quest for Aid with Perplexing Affidavit Requirement Ends with Judge Kozinski
A lawyer trying to help his client with a perplexing New Jersey requirement for a judge’s signature wasn’t able to find a willing jurist until he visited the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at its Pasadena office.
The lawyer had struck out when he asked clerks at two branches of the Los Angeles superior court to find a judge who would sign his client’s affidavit, Above the Law reports. The affidavit had to be signed by a judge before the client could seek a birth certificate under delayed-report-of-birth requirements, the lawyer told the publication. The unusual New Jersey law required a signature by “a judge of any court having jurisdiction in the place where the affidavit is taken.”
The lawyer had better luck in the 9th Circuit when he met a clerk willing to listen to his plight. She checked with “the judge” and told the lawyer to return the next day with his client. The lawyer was surprised when he arrived for his appointment and Judge Alex Kozinski appeared to take his client’s oath and sign the form.
“The experience cracked me up,” the lawyer told Above the Law. “I mean, does it really take the chief judge of the 9th Circuit to acknowledge a signature on a simple form so a guy can file a Delayed Report of Birth with the state of New Jersey? I left messages and went all over town begging to make an appointment with any judge for the simplest matter, and the only person I can get to do anything is the chief judge of the 9th Circuit.”
Kozinski told Above the Law that the incident was true and credited Chief Deputy Clerk Eve Fisher for bringing the request to him. “We are very proud of our user-friendly staff,” he said.
