The VLW Blog

Pretrial discovery can be a matter of strategy, and some lawyers even approach it as a game.

But one circuit judge in Norfolk isn’t pleased with what he saw as game-playing in a medical-malpractice case. In Oakley v. Warren, Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. reamed both plaintiff’s and defense lawyers, resorting to elementary school terms.

“If this case is representative of the way expert witness disclosure is usually handled in medical malpractice cases, the noble aims of discovery have been twisted into a grown-up version of hide-and-seek,” he wrote.

He castigated the plaintiff’s lawyers for not timely disclosing information, but defense counsel wasn’t blameless. The judge called a defense maneuver a “game of blind man’s buff.” The defense had proposed setting aside a number of days for depositions, but neither side would need to disclose names or specialties.

Ultimately, the plaintiff’s side lost this round, since the judge disallowed the use of their two belatedly designated experts. But the judge fired a parting shot at both: “In future cases, rather than delaying designations until the deadline and scheduling depositions in a ‘blind’ fashion I suggest counsel follow the rules and the scheduling order and try, instead, honesty and candor.”

Ouch.

Here’s an item from the Tarheel State this a.m., courtesy of the Daily Alert from our colleagues at North Carolina Lawyers Weekly:

A lawyer down there has been suspended from practicing law in Wake County for a year, reports the Raleigh News & Observer. His offense: He cussed at a court clerk.

Lawyers here will recall that back in April, in the case of In re Moseley, the Supreme Court of Virginia upheld the power of a local circuit court to suspend or revoke a lawyer’s privilege to practice before it.

That’s basically what happened down in N.C. According to the N&O, a Wake County superior court judge found that a lawyer named Mark A. Key had sworn at a court clerk and walked away from a client before a hearing over a payment dispute. His privilege to practice in Wake was suspended for a year. The N.C. Supreme Court declined to take the case; Key said he will serve the suspension at an agreed-upon later time.

There is a legal story that’s been floating around the Internet that is worth pulling to ground and blogging about.

Last month a lawyer from a big firm in Chicago was handling a case in federal bankruptcy court in Miami. Lawyer is head of the bankruptcy section of said big firm.

The judge holds an emergency hearing. As reported in the court transcript posted by the legal blog Above the Law, said lawyer was not the most deferential to the judge. Judge seemed to be wanting to do something the lawyer didn’t like, so the lawyer told her, “I suggest to you with respect, Your Honor, that you’re a few French fries short of a Happy Meal in terms of what’s likely to take place.”

First, anytime you see someone preface a remark to you with the phrase, “with respect,” watch out. You’re about to do a turn as Rodney Dangerfield.

Second, Ronald McDonald is not recognized as much of a legal authority. He is, after all, a clown.

And third, if you insult a judge in open court, you do so at your peril.

Needless to say, the judge at whom the Happy Meal remark was aimed was not so happy. She issued a show cause to the lawyer, scheduling a hearing on why he shouldn’t be suspended from practicing in her court and have his pro hac vice admission revoked.

Above the Law broke the story; the Daily Business Review provides an update on the fallout for the lawyer and his firm. Among other developments, the client is no longer his client.

The show cause hearing is set for June 25. Stay tuned.