Comments on: A Good Start...

A Good Start...

monju_bosatsu — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 08:12:02 -0800

Let's face it: lawyers don't have a great reputation for being nice people. For example, an associate at Winston & Strawn leaves a somewhat abusive message [wav] for another associate at Latham & Watkins. Along those lines, here's a message [wav], with increasingly frustrated obscenities, purportedly left by a trademark applicant/appellant with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB); resulting Final Order [pdf] concerning disclipinary action of the attorney. Most recently: the Grinch who almost stole Christmas [pdf].

By: mrgrimm

mrgrimm — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 08:34:55 -0800

other professions are just as bad. you wouldn't believe how verbally abusive software publishers can be. and salesmen. and CEOs. and middle managers ... imo, lawyers don't care about their image because it rarely affects their bottom line.

By: Karmakaze

Karmakaze — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 08:48:31 -0800

Also, some lawyers build their reputations for being "sharks", so they cultivate an aggressive demeanor.

By: Cancergiggles

Cancergiggles — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 09:04:49 -0800

Yippee - Lawyer war Now I know its Christmas

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 09:05:14 -0800

Actually, I was pretty impressed at the proper language usage. The occasional "fuck/fucking" notwithstanding, the overall tone was pretty civilized. So, people get mad sometimes. Are we surprised at this because lawyers also get mad, and, well, we weren't aware they were people?

By: Karmakaze

Karmakaze — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 09:05:59 -0800

Well, if you read through the reprimand, apparently he left a large number of messages along those lines.

By: lola

lola — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 09:06:11 -0800

thanks monju, my bosses (attorneys) were very much amused

By: Blubble

Blubble — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 10:09:30 -0800

These are two different attorneys. The first guy sounds like he may be reasonably pissed at an attorney at another firm with whom he is working. It sounds like the other guy screwed up some important documents. The court order is for the second idiot who just sounds like he didn't get his way with a trademark dispute. Here is one of his sincere apologies. Of course, the sorry ass won't even own up to simply being an asshole. My phone calls were unprofessional and there is no excusing them. All I can say is that my assistant was out with the flu for three days and I was sick, as well, and taking powerful prescription cough medicine. I was delirious.

By: Saucy Intruder

Saucy Intruder — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 10:31:09 -0800

Blame it on the meds. Right. Like the Atkins diet makes you a racist. The guy with the Grinch brief is taking a pretty big risk on sanctions. He's counting on the judge having a sense of humor (I wouldn't - the fact that Christmas bullshit has infested every other aspect of my life doesn't mean it should show up in court filings.) Exhibit A, the original letter from Akin Gump, is a hell of a lot more amusing than the Grinch poem.

By: DirtyCreature

DirtyCreature — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 11:32:15 -0800

Understand that the more conflict a lawyer can drum up "in the best interests of the client", the more hours he/she is going to rack up dealing with that conflict, the more hours his/her opposing counterpart is going to rack up, and the bigger pay day for both of them - all at the expense of their clients.

By: MiltonRandKalman

MiltonRandKalman — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 12:28:37 -0800

On the grinch lawyer. I understand in civil cases it's common to file motions around Christmas just so the opposing attorneys has to spend the holidays writing a response. It's a mental game as much as it is a legal game. If you're a partner don't forget to treat the other lawyer as a 2nd year associate. If they're female, talk to them using their first name especially if they never said it was ok.

By: The Bellman

The Bellman — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 15:21:07 -0800

Things are different in the Texas Courts. Here is an order [pdf] from a Texas Federal Judge (that's right, a Federal judge) ordering counsel to "get a life." It gets a little crazy down there.

By: craven_morhead

craven_morhead — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 20:36:27 -0800

insert generic anti-lawyer joke here ironic; I'm taking the LSATS in a month and a half

By: Maxson

Maxson — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 14:24:19 -0800

craven_morhead, I'm all for anti-lawyer jokes and I just took the LSATs in December. This is going to be one of those careers where, if you can't laugh about it, you're gonna explode someday.