Westboro’s lawyer gets clemency for technical glitch

December 20, 2007

Lawyers for the Westboro Baptist Church and the father of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, whose funeral the anti-gay sect picketed in Westminster, have been busy filing post-trial motions in federal court since a Baltimore jury ordered the church to pay $10.9 million.

In such a high-profile case, one would think the attorney representing the Topeka, Kans.-based church, which regularly protests soldiers’ funerals nationwide, would not flirt with filing deadlines.

But Jonathan L. Katz, who has championed the group’s right to free speech, had to throw himself on the mercy of the court Tuesday after he was ever-so-slightly tardy in submitting his most recent round of arguments for, among other things, why the Oct. 31 verdict should be shelved pending appeal (subscriber-only link). One pleading came in 18 minutes past a midnight deadline, he wrote; the other came in at 12:31 a.m.

Katz “did not anticipate any delay in filing Defendants’ Replies, but that unexpectedly arose, and was further affected by a technical difficulty with the freezing of his Microsoft Word program, which necessitated taking time to figure out how to unfreeze Microsoft Word,” the Silver Spring lawyer wrote.

U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett, who had forgiven Katz for arriving late to court on the first day of trial due to morning traffic, granted his latest request for clemency — the same day it was filed.

What do you make of Katz’s request and Bennett’s response? Is it common for judges to cut lawyers slack in such scenarios? Any personal tales of “technical difficulty” that were met with either judicial understanding or an unbending “rules are rules” attitude?

BRENDAN KEARNEY, Legal Affairs Writer

Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Jackie Sauter | Filed Under Westboro Baptist Church, law 

Comments

One Response to “Westboro’s lawyer gets clemency for technical glitch”

  1. Anonymous on December 20th, 2007 11:18 am

    As a former practicing attorney (and now user of legal services from others), almost nothing is more frustrating than lawyers who wait until the last minute to do everything. Are you really telling me that the lawyer was somehow prevented from filing his pleadings until right at the deadline? I doubt it. For some reason, lawyers are unmotivated to do anything other than at the last minute. Then, they have to spend time arguing and asking for special persmission to do things (like having the court accept a late motion).

    As for arriving late to a hearing, I can understand being forgiving if lateness isn’t a chronic problem. I’ve known plenty of attorneys, however, who are constantly late to hearings, etc.

    So for those of you practicing law, try this for your clients: do work other than at the last minute, arrive on time, and return calls/emails. Your clients will appreciate it (at least if they are more knowledgeable clients/in house counsel).

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