Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Do Not Call Board Members Monkeys

A Delaware attorney has been disciplined by that state's Supreme Court for making unflattering arguments in a brief. What did he say?

The briefs were part of an appeal to Superior Court disputing a decision by New Castle County Board of License, Inspection & Review, in which he made several statements including that the county could appoint 'monkeys' to the board and 'simply allow the attorney to interpret the grunts and groans of the ape members and reach whatever conclusion the attorney wished from the documents of record.'
While the attorney may have a plausible First Amendment argument (he also relies on the Board of Professional Responsibility's report that "there is no clear and convincing evidence here that respondent's briefs, while obnoxious, were prejudicial to the administration of justice."), here's a free legal practice tip from JDB - don't refer to the members of the tribunal from which you're appealing as monkeys or, indeed, any type of animal, regardless of how much they deserve it.

1 comment:

jedijawa said...

Good advice!