Briefs and Oral Arguments: What's Worst of the Worst?
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia can always be counted on to let you know what he really thinks. And even though you think lawyers would bring their A game to oral arguments and briefs they put before Scalia (he did write the book on the art of persuading judges, after all), he had a litany of pet peeves to share at the Texas Bar Association’s annual meeting last week. In oral arguments, lawyers should pronounce words correctly, or Scalia will be “inclined to think this person is not the sharpest pencil in the box.” And Scalia thinks briefs that use italics excessively read “like a high school girl’s diary.”
We’ve asked you time and time again about your grammar pet peeves, but this isn’t even about that. What kind of words and phrasing do you see in briefs that drive you crazy? And in court, are you always sitting through hackneyed oral arguments by lawyers who have clearly never read McElhaney on Litigation? If so, we want to read your horror stories.
Answer in the comments below.
Read the answers to last week’s question: Do You Check Your PDA During Meetings?
Featured answer:
Posted by Ellen Lorenzen: “I’m a workers’ comp judge, and I have to ask attorneys to turn off their electronic equipment during hearings. If I don’t, they constantly check for messages. My favorite, though, was an injured employee who was checking his text messages while testifying. I asked his attorney to hold his phone until the trial was completed. I expected opposing counsel to ask to see the texts sent and received to see if he had been getting answers from other people, but no objection was raised, and I chose not to inquire myself.”
