You know. I do believe it has taken me a full SIX MONTHS to get back to normal after the conclusion of our little law firm project. Wow. I need to practice acceptance and acknowledgment. Take the time we need, lawyers. We have a hard job. Now, back to normal.

                   I know. I should be used to this. Lawyers lying in court. I have been at this practice for about 20 years, and for some reason, I still cannot get used to it. Lawyers telling bald-faced lies in court. Not miscommunications. Not insufficient recollections. Outright lies by lawyers in court.

                    The new season often brings a lot of reflection for all of us. What we want to achieve in the new season, what we don’t want to repeat as the year moves along. I can’t stand it when lawyers tell bald-faced lies in court. You know what I am talking about. Not those times when a lawyer forgets they had a phone call or received an email. We are required to remember so many things on the fly; we will inevitably forget or only partly recall some things when called upon to remember. I am not talking about those instances. You know there is a difference. I am talking about when you literally can see it happening. The lie just falling out of the lawyer’s mouth that is completely intentional and unapologetic. Sometimes it is so bad that you can see them flinch when they do it. It’s like a “tell”.

                   Why am I writing about this? Lying has become synonymous with the legal field for as long as lawyers have been written about. So, why can’t I get used to it? Especially since judges and courts don’t seem to care either. I said it. So why should I care if my opponent lies like it’s going out of style? I care because it is always a corruption of the process; which is always unnecessary. Just say that you forgot to file something. Just say that you didn’t consider that, so you didn’t include it. Just say that you missed that in the Rule. I have never seen honest omissions demonized or berated by the court. Key word “honest” in that previous sentence. Learned and experienced jurists and judges know that life intervenes, and we make mistakes. One time, during a bond hearing, the prosecutor apprised me of a change in the law regarding bonds that I had not yet been acquainted. The Judge turned to me and asked “Considering the change in the law, Ms. Hamilton, do you wish to be heard further on your point?” I had to eat it. The law had changed, and I didn’t get the memo. So, I proceeded to accept that that law had changed but despite that, I asked the Court to consider that the current bond was unreasonable. I didn’t purport to the court that there was some loophole there wasn’t. I didn’t try and change the facts regarding how the bond was set. I just ate it. I didn’t lie to try and save myself. I admitted I was not up on the law and that the law had changed. What would have been the point to say anything otherwise. Unfortunately, I have not seen the same from many of my opponents.

            So, what is the best response when this happens in real time? I had to check myself during a recent motions hearing on this one. The lie the lawyer told was so bold and so bad, I literally gasped out loud without realizing it. I have come to think that the best response is stoic recognition of the lie. Take a deep breath. Make sure I have understood what is actually going on. Assess what the lie is, then, emotionless, present the clear fact that controverts the lie. Keep it moving. Take your cue from the court. If a fuss is to be made of the lie, I have understood that it is only the Court’s fuss that matters. When a good colleague of mine and I were bantering about in the corner of the courtroom about how we would present to the court the matter at hand,  I made it clear to my colleague what I was going to represent to the Court. It was specific and important. However, my colleague wasn’t truly listening to me. Our bantering was in such proximity to the Court (this Judge could hear a mouse yawn at the back of the courtroom) that the Court heard what I said. When we appeared in front of the Judge, I repeated exactly what I said I would. My colleague looked at me with disbelief as if I was speaking Greek. He thought I was lying! But, I wasn’t. The Court actually caught it, and fussed my colleague out, reasserting FOR me that that is NOT what I said. I stood silently. The point from this story is that if it matters, the Court will address it. No matter how egregious in your mind, the lie only truly matters if the Court not only catches it but actually deigns to do something about it. Unfortunate for those of us who just can’t STAND a fibber in court.

            I wonder what other practitioners have found helpful in dealing with this problem. Or maybe I am being too sensitive and need to get over the fact that lawyers will lie, and lie with reckless abandon. Sigh….