By Brian Malcom
Just in case you missed the bench slap handed down by U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell recently, here it is. For all you grammar nuts out there, this is a feast. Above the Law covered the story this past Monday. Apparently, the district judge was not impressed when the plaintiff's lawyer filed a response and motion. Nault v The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Foundation
There is red ink all over this thing. This is my nightmare. It was bad enough when professors did it. It still stings when partners mark a draft up. But, the red ink is especially piercing when it comes from a federal judge.
Above the Law reports that the motion was denied for, among other things, "being riddled with unprofessional grammatical and typographical errors that nearly render the entire Motion incomprehensible." Ouch! The judge also ordered the plaintiff's attorney to re-read the Local Rules and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in their entirety. Here's the kicker: the court even ordered the plaintiff's attorney to deliver a copy of the order and the court's exhibit, which was most likely the marked-up copy of the attorney's motion.