Judges Aren’t Fools

I hate to be the one to tell you this but…

Judges aren’t fooled by lawyers who try to bend the rules by cramming evidence and arguments into factums by using 1.5 spacing instead of double spacing.

In a recent case that I read, the Respondent’s lawyer did just that.  The judge did a word count and found that the Respondent’s factum was 10000 words whereas the Applicant’s factum was 6000 words.  The judge was so perturbed that he told the Respondent’s counsel to appear before him via Zoom to make submissions on why he shouldn’t order costs against her personally and he recommended that she retain her own counsel.

At the cost hearing, the judge determined that he did not have the authority, based on these facts, to order costs but he recommended that the Family law Rules Committee amend the rules to permit the court to order costs against counsel personally in such circumstances.

I am sure that the judge will remember this lawyer and although judges aren’t supposed to hold particular biases, judge’s are only human and for now on that lawyer might not be in his good books.

Establishing a good reputation is important. I doubt that the extra 4000 words that she crammed into the Factum was really worth it.