Lawyering is hard.
The post Federal Judge Big Mad Over Attorney’s 3:30 A.M. Filing appeared first on Above the Law.
Courts generally frown on missing deadlines. They also don’t like when folks appearing before them are late. Put both together and it’s like gleaming the cube of irritation for a judge. Add in a 3:30 a.m. filing and you’ve got a well and truly pissed-off judge.
Former Massachusetts state senator Dean Tran was convicted on charges he improperly collected unemployment benefits under a pandemic relief program. Prosecutors are recommending a two-year prison sentence. He was due to be sentenced on January 17th, but in the wee hours of the morning — 3:30 a.m. — his attorney, Michael Walsh, filed a sentencing memo challenging the advisory sentencing guidelines. What’s more, he showed up at 10:06 a.m. for the 10:00 a.m. hearing. And Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV was not pleased about any of that, as reported by Law360:
“I’m unhappy, very unhappy that Mr. Walsh was late, I’m unhappy that Mr. Tran was out in the hall when I took the bench, and what I’m really unhappy about is that this morning the defendant filed a sentencing memorandum that raises a number of issues,” Judge Saylor continued.
“There was a deadline for doing that, which Mr. Walsh blew through,” Judge Saylor said.
But there was no emergency or unforeseen circumstance that justified the last minute filing — Walsh just explained that it’s hard work being a lawyer.
“I spent weeks with the sentencing manual trying to figure out which way is up,” Walsh, speaking rapidly, told the judge.
“Most of us were in bed at 3:30 this morning, asleep,” Judge Saylor responded. “I was certainly not sitting up waiting for you.”
The judge said the situation was “unfair and inappropriate,” but, fearing Tran could argue ineffective counsel on appeal if he refused to consider the memo, he pushed sentencing back to February 7th. One bit of advice for Walsh: shows up on time.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].
