The dog ate my lawyers
Excuses from “I only hire the best” lawyers
Trump is supposed to be smart. That is why he keeps telling people about his ability to pass a cognitive test. This article is not about Trump. Even the best people need a helping hand. For a person with ninety over indictments, he needs assistants on certain legal aspects. One thing that lawyers are supposed to excel in is talking or more accurately finding loopholes in argument. I expected to hear brilliant proses and insights.
“I know words. I have the best words.” — Donald Trump
Sick note
Recently, one of Trump’s lawyers was allegedly sick. She told the judge she was down with Covid-19 and requested for a delay in the trial. This is a plausible excuse as people do come down with Covid-19 repeatedly.
Then she was photographed at an event the next day. The event was a public victory party for her client. The fact that she was unmasked makes the bare face lie more outstanding. Pun intended.
No computer
The sick note lawyer became famous for bringing a gaming laptop to a court case. The reporters knew something was amiss when her laptop’s logo kept changing colour.
Another of Trump’s lawyer decided that a gaming laptop was too extravagant. Recently, a filing reported that Trump’s lawyer did not own a laptop or desktop computer. As such he could not view the evidence. To be fair, the lawyer mentioned that he had a handheld tablet although the brand and specifications was not revealed.
For lawyers to practice as a lawyer, they must pass the bar. Nobody mention how low the bar is for these lawyers.
Ignorance of the law
This section is not about excuses. I kept it in on a technicality.
There is a rule in court. If you want to introduce any evidence, you need to bring up during the discovery phase in the trial. The discovery phase is why trials are usually taking a long time. Everything entered into discovery is documented and updated to all parties. There are no gotachas.
It is possible to enter more evidence into the case even during the trial. But the sick note lawyer clearly forgot the step as she was reprimanded by the judge for missing the basic step.
As this is a story about Trump’s lawyers at their best, she is not alone. There was a lawyer who appealed to a court that he was not a member of. To practice law in specific parts of America, a lawyer must first be admitted to the bar. If the lawyer chooses to expand the area that he or she can practice in, the lawyer must then apply to be a member of that court. There is a way to work around this. One can hire another lawyer who has been admitted to that specific bar. There is a saying that a person that represents himself has a fool for a client. I did not expect the saying to include lawyers.
The reason for this rule is that it requires the lawyers to be familiar with the working of courts that they want to operate with. Otherwise, you will end up with the issue of incorrect paperwork. Like why Trump got a judge trial instead of a jury trial. It is possible that the sick note lawyer forgot to check a box requesting for a jury trial. Or even submit the correct paperwork. For readers not familiar with juries, juries are a group of common people required to help decide a trial. The jury’s decision needs to be unanimous. The opposite is a judge trial where the judge is usually a person who has heard all the excuses and may have even used the same excuses previously.
Justice is blind. I just did not expect the lawyers to make Trump’s legal defense more handicap than it already is.