How often do attorneys neglect to use spell check when drafting documents or before sending e-mails? Far too often. Forgetting to spell check your pleadings can be a very costly mistake.
Brian Puricelli, an attorney working a civil rights suit filed a fee petition with the Court that was filled with typographical and grammatical errors such as “plaintf,” “Philadehia,” “attoreys,” “reasonbale” and “Ubited States” just to name a few. Obviously, he didn’t review his petition before filing it. Any built-in spell check utility would easily catch these mistakes.
Senior U.S. District Judge J. William Ditter Jr. was irate over his “slip-shod submissions” to the Court. In response to the filings, the Judge slashed Mr. Puricelli’s fees by more than $154k, from his request of $180K in compensation to a mere $26k for his efforts. The Judge stated that the filing misquoted a Federal statute, referred to a U.S. Supreme Court dissenting opinion as a concurring opinion, contained errors in case and statute citations, and incorrectly listed the amount of damages awarded by the jury. Was the Judge too harsh in his penalties? Or was it well past time to take such shoddy lawyering to the woodshed?
Regardless, the message is clear. As a minimum, spell check your work before submitting it to the Court. Don’t make the same careless mistake that Mr. Puricelli did, or you might find your wallet $154K lighter.
- John and Mike
(703) 359-0700
digitalsamurai@senseient.com
www.senseient.com
