45 Times That The Opponents Of Lawyers Completely Failed In Court
Law is a complex subject. It’s difficult, technically challenging, and requires a ton of paperwork. Furthermore, there may be a lot at stake when working in the legal sector. You might be in charge of settling a contentious argument between two parties or keeping a dangerous criminal off the streets. Of course, practicing law is never simple, but in these cases, someone made a huge mistake and gave the case to the opposition.
Carbon Monoxide
Let’s start with a legal story that focuses entirely on the fine print. It’s crucial for lawyers to have a thorough understanding of the field they practice in. And that also applies to all the jargon that will be used in court. This implies that if you’re going to consult an expert, you should be aware of the subject at hand. In this particular case, the defense attorney kept using the term “carbon dioxide” when he should have been using “carbon monoxide.” That isn’t even close to being hard to do!
“Just A Sec”
Simply by acting impolitely, some people completely destroy any chance they have of succeeding in court. Even if their legal arguments are flawless and their paperwork is error-free, the judge will still take notice if they disrespect the court and its procedures. This could mean arriving late, wearing something that is not appropriate, or taking a phone call during the event.
“Just A Sec”
Even if they weren’t actually taking calls, lawyers risk having their cases dismissed for the simple act of having their phones in their hands in court. And in the conclusion of the arguments?! What on earth was this person’s mental state?
Less Talk, Less Mistake
Although we have discussed this in relation to attorneys a few times already, it cannot be stressed enough how important it is for clients to maintain silence during court proceedings. You see, when you’re paying somebody who’s educated in law to defend you, it’s best that you don’t just blurt out your personal feelings and potentially undo all of their good work. Instead, it’s best that you refrain from doing so.
Less Talk, Less Mistake
On the other hand, we are relieved that the driver who hit us and fled the scene testified against themselves in court. They just couldn’t help themselves from accusing their opponent of lying. Oops.
Where Are Your Manners?
Can you believe we haven’t even discussed juries yet? As is common knowledge, the verdict in many court cases is ultimately decided by the jury. This indicates that attorneys have a responsibility to ensure that they approach the jury with the appropriate disposition and tone, or else they run the risk of losing everything.
Where Are Your Manners?
In this court case, a lawyer attacked a witness who was both credible and liked by the audience. This had an immediate swaying effect on the jury, which responded poorly to such an impolite line of questioning. Conclusion reached.
Case Closed
Gerry Spence, who is in his nonagenarian years, is a pretty incredible attorney. Given the fact that he has never, ever been found guilty of a criminal offense, it should come as no surprise that he has been inducted into the American Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame. In addition to this, Spence has been successful in every single civil case he’s been involved in since 1969. To put it into perspective, that is one seriously impressive record.
Case Closed
This legal story that was posted to Reddit sheds light on why that is the case. Spence requested that his witness first demonstrate the injured party’s current condition, and then demonstrate how it had been in the past. That settled the matter.
All Thanks To The Solicitor
This is a cute little story about how the opposing counsel on one side intentionally handed their client the case on the other side. To begin, we have a student who comes to court unrepresented because their school advised them it was okay to do so and they did not feel the need to hire a lawyer. Already ringing the alarm bells, right? Thankfully, the judge did not agree with this and decided to postpone the hearing as a result.
All Thanks To The Solicitor
After that, the attorney representing the other side informed this student that the paperwork contained a fairly significant error. The entire case was dismissed as a result of this adversarial attorney’s efforts.
Look At Page 10, Please
When you are in the courtroom, you have a responsibility to watch very carefully what you say. Let’s be straightforward here: the role of the court stenographer is to record everything that is said in the courtroom. In addition to this, you are surrounded by people who have a financial incentive to be completely knowledgeable about everything, including their documentation, their technical terms, their witnesses, and everything else.
Look At Page 10, Please
In this account, the district attorney made the extremely careless statement that their adversary would have been victorious if they had simply included a particular motion. It became clear that they had done so.
The Email
Another legal drama with a happy ending, this one revolving around a large bank’s attempt to defraud a sick and elderly woman of her life savings is described here. In point of fact, let’s call it a “semi-happy ending” because, sadly, the lady passed away before the case was resolved.
The Email
Simply put, a courageous attorney searched through more than 200 boxes of documents in order to locate an incriminating email in which the defendant admitted to committing financial crimes. To everyone’s delight, the lawyer in question is now in charge of the $10 million settlement he won, and the bankers in question are currently serving time in prison.
Ever Heard Of The King Solomon Method?
There is a story in the Bible about two women who both asserted that a child was their own even though the child was clearly not theirs. They went to seek advice from King Solomon, who suggested that they split the child in two and give one half to each of the women. One of the women was pleased by this, while the other was incensed by it. The riddle was eventually solved, and the child was given back to the family who had been caring for it all along.
Ever Heard Of The King Solomon Method?
We have a situation that is very similar to that one here, except there is a judge involved and there are two restraining orders. The exe-girlfriend in question disclosed her identity when she gave her consent for them to drop the whole matter.
Truth Slipping Out
The courtroom is a very solemn and important setting. It is typically housed in a forbidding building, it is accompanied by a large number of procedures, and individuals are obligated to respect both it and the laws that it upholds. In addition, as most of us are aware, if you say something in court and then expect it to be removed from the record, you will be disappointed. That is not the way things are done at all.
Truth Slippin’ Out
In this post on Reddit, the brother of a lawyer describes a situation in which someone who had been lying for many years inadvertently revealed the truth. It goes without saying that things didn’t work out very well, at least not for the individual who was involved.
Suffering From Injury
People will claim that they have been injured and are entitled to compensation, and then they will post incriminating pictures of themselves online. This is a story as old as time itself. It seems so avoidable! It is shocking how careless you can be! Despite this, we continue to hear account after account of exactly the same thing happening.
Suffering From Injury
A person who posted pictures of themselves skiing after claiming to be suffering from severe neck or back pain after a car accident was the subject of a legal discussion on Reddit. Guys, step it up here! It is essential to remember, in this scenario, that attorneys are able to view your social media profiles even if they are set to private.
More Injury Claim
Here we have yet another instance of an unsuccessful claim for personal injury (do any of them ever succeed?). This time, a person stated that they had injured their back, but the attorneys had a sneaking suspicion that they were lying. The attorneys decided to hire a private investigator, who confirmed very quickly that their initial assumptions were correct.
More Injury Claim
The investigator came back with a video of the suspect, but that wasn’t the end of the investigation at all. Unbelievably, the video showed the person playing softball with the attorney representing the other side. Wild!
Parents’ Battle
Because there is more at stake, either in terms of people’s lives or money, certain areas of the law are more contentious than others. One of these areas is family law, which deals with disagreements between parents, spouses, and other members of the same or related families. In this particular scenario, a mother intended to prevent the father of her children from seeing them in any capacity, but she thwarted her own efforts by speaking her mind.
Parents’ Battle
This mother made the mistake of saying, “I can’t force my children to do something they don’t want to do,” which provided the opportunity for the other lawyer to argue that she is unable to exert authority over her children.
The Wet Floor Accident
To tell you the truth, this is a pretty depressing story, so brace yourself for it. The outcome of this court case is dependent on the fact that attorneys in this particular state are not permitted to view surveillance footage until after a deposition has been taken. This indicates that individuals are unable to alter their story after viewing footage of themselves on their own devices.
The Wet Floor Accident
Incredibly, the individuals involved in this scenario allowed an elderly woman to trip and fall, and only after the incident did they place signs warning of a wet floor. In addition to that, prior to calling for an ambulance, they cleaned up the area around the lady who was injured. Outrageous!
IRS
For some people, their downfall is that they are too organized, while for others, their downfall is that they are too emotional. And then there are those people who are just arrogant, such as the person in this legal story. Because of an injury, this individual believed they were entitled to two years’ worth of back pay from the company. It does seem to make sense, doesn’t it?
IRS
This individual, however, could not bring themselves to accept $60,000 and instead boasted that they made significantly more money than they reported on their tax returns. We are unable to empathize with you in any way.
Stolen Identity
This is a fantastic story, but unfortunately for the defense attorney involved, it does not end well for him. Or, now that I think about it, for the unfortunate worker who was involved. A worker was required to appear in court in connection with an injury that occurred on the job. They were unable to provide answers to questions of a fundamental nature, but everyone involved assumed that this was due to their anxiety.
Stolen Identity
Unbelievably, it was discovered that the worker had used her sister’s identity in order to get the position she was applying for. Even more unbelievable is the fact that the employee’s attorney did not appear to notice.
Don’t Forget About The Chemicals
Documents, as is common knowledge, play a significant role in the legal system. There are some riveting court cases, but it’s not all about the rousing closing arguments in front of the jury. In spite of what we see and hear in movies and on television, a significant number of legal cases are decided by the paperwork involved. The answers are probably hidden somewhere within all of that information; they might be in folders of old documents or on lists of old emails, but they are definitely there.
Don’t Forget About The Chemicals
In this court case, the defense attorney didn’t do a thorough job of reading the documents before handing them over to the prosecution. Whoops.
Expert Among Experts
This is a compelling story, and it centers on a rather remarkable engineer-turned-doctor. The use of expert witnesses is common in legal proceedings. They are brought in by legal teams so that they can give the ins and outs of a specific situation and fill in some of the blanks that a layman wouldn’t understand.
Expert Among Experts
In this particular instance, a physician was explaining to the patient how back pain could be caused by an accident. However, his testimony was so detailed that the other side suggested he was trying to pass himself off as an engineer. It has come to light that he was.
The Importance Of Paperwork
We are going to switch gears and focus on Brazil for this story, which is about a legal matter involving their military police. In this particular case, a lawyer was suing the Brazilian military police for brutality, but none of the witnesses were willing to testify because they had been threatened and intimidated.
The Importance Of Paperwork
Now comes the part where things start to get interesting. It would appear that in Brazil, the paperwork you submit is accorded a much higher priority than the proceedings that take place in court. It appears that the police department did not receive that memo because the only evidence they provided was a single paragraph that completely implicated them. Oh, well.
Can You Really Remember?
People will sometimes choose to act as their own attorneys in legal proceedings. This indicates that they do not have access to legal representation and are instead making an effort to defend themselves through legal means. There are times when this is successful and other times when it is not.
Can You Really Remember?
In this particular instance, a worker was terminated, and they spent a significant amount of time preparing to argue their case in court. Their employer takes the stand right at the beginning of the hearing and provides information that is inaccurate. The case was over just as quickly as it had begun, and there were some awkward silences to boot.
The Real Problem
A malfunctioning traffic light was the source of a brief moment of chaos in this legal story from Reddit. The presence of the police at the scene resulted in the issuance of multiple traffic citations, which led to a number of individuals challenging those citations in court. When the case was brought before the judge, one of the police officers testified that every single officer from their department had been present at the scene issuing tickets.
The Real Problem
The judge made the point that one of them should have been directing traffic rather than punishing people for being stuck in it, which is an observation that is entirely accurate.
Brian’s Life
Even though Brian is a trained lawyer with a salary that is comparable to that of a lawyer, we can’t help but feel a little bit sorry for him. On the other hand, he isn’t very good at his job. Therefore, it’s possible that we don’t feel as sorry for him as we should. It would appear that Brian is so notoriously bad at his job that in the past six years, he has failed to win four times in situations where he had a chance to do so. Losing is one thing; losing when you had a chance to win is something entirely different.
Brian’s Life
In this instance, Brian introduced evidence that was completely unrelated to the case at hand, which made his own client appear inconsistent.
Angry Judge
It is common knowledge that magistrates can become agitated when people show a lack of respect for their court. If a lawyer checks their client’s phone, the client is finished with them. If a customer continues to speak without permission, they will be kicked out. And individuals are kicked out of the game if they are unable to comprehend what they are doing.
Angry Judge
This is exactly what occurred in this case when the former girlfriend admitted to telling the former boyfriend that the restraining order against them had been lifted. This, of course, indicates that he couldn’t possibly have broken the rule, and that the investigation into the matter was a complete and utter waste of time for everyone involved.
Look At The Chickens
A man has filed a lawsuit against the city on the grounds that it unlawfully removed him from the public housing development in which he had been living. To this point, it seems to make sense. However, the city argued that he was forced out of his apartment because he kept chickens in the space where he lived. Naturally, his attorney declared that to be ridiculous.
Look At The Chickens
Up until someone brought up the fact that the chickens had been transported to a farm, everything was running smoothly. The individual in question jumped to his feet in a fit of rage out of the blue, completely derailing his argument.
Jury Duty
It seems like the prosecution in this case of attempted murder did a pretty poor job of presenting their case. In point of fact, whatever it was that they did was so terrible that their opponents weren’t even required to make a statement.
Jury Duty
Apparently, the person charged in this case maintained that they had shot someone because of self-defense. The opposition attorneys presented their case and instead of countering this argument, somehow verified that it definitely was self-defense. All in all, the jurors got to pack up and go home.
Vending Machine
The idea that verbal agreements should be honored was the foundation of this legal tale in which the opponent made a number of critical errors. Now, some nations, states, or jurisdictions will recognize a verbal contract as having the same legal weight as a written one, while others will not do so. It is abundantly clear that the paralegal who was involved in this case did not perform the required level of research, which resulted in a disastrous loss for their client.
Vending Machine
Not only did this individual make the mistaken assertion that verbal contracts are not legally binding, but they also picked a fight with the judge! And in the vending machines themselves.
Let Plumber Do Their Jobs
As we have seen up to this point, there are some people who choose to engage in legal disputes where they represent themselves. In the legal system of the United States, this method is referred to as “pro se,” and it is gaining in popularity. Naturally, in order to accomplish this goal, you will need to have a solid understanding of what you are doing.
Let Plumber Do Their Jobs
Why do people believe they are capable of defending themselves in court when they wouldn’t even attempt to do things like perform surgery on themselves or install their own plumbing? Guys, this is something that is taught in law school!
Inventory Is Important
If people don’t put in the effort to prepare their cases properly for court, they run the risk of having their cases thrown out. This does not simply mean familiarizing oneself with specialized topics or examining cases that are analogous. For purposes of this illustration, being prepared simply means possessing an inventory.
Inventory Is Important
If the proprietor of this store could have identified the items that were taken from him, he might have been able to file a claim for compensation for their value. We are aware that making a list of all of your possessions and taking pictures of them can be a hassle; however, if you run a business, doing so might be a prudent move.
Witness
This legal situation appears to be quite precarious right from the beginning of the process. When two people are involved in a car accident, an additional driver suddenly appears and offers to serve as a witness, despite the fact that they did not see anything during the accident. Even worse, this other driver is familiar with one of the other individuals who was involved in the collision. That doesn’t seem quite right.
Witness
When the witness testifies in court, they give evidence that demonstrates why they cannot be trusted. They make two statements that are completely at odds with one another, and they are immediately called out on it.
Too Much Noise
This is a long and complex story, but trust us when we say it’s well worth your time. To begin, a person’s next-door neighbor has a problem with the amount of noise being produced by the fountain that is located in the person’s front yard. In response to this, the owners of the fountain erected walls around the filter, redone the pipes, and even contacted a noise specialist. In general, they are good neighbors who are considerate of one another. Despite this, they are still going to be sued for their actions.
Too Much Noise
When it came time for the actual hearing, the world’s worst neighbors admitted that in order to take pictures of the fountain, they had been trespassing on private property without permission.
What A Waste!
Another murky legal tale that’s bound to have some interesting backstory elements has been brought to our attention. Using a machete to cut bamboo resulted in the tragic loss of several fingers for one individual. When they went to court in order to get compensation for the injury, it turned out that they had done it on purpose. This is an even more unfortunate development.
What A Waste!
We have no choice but to assume that the person in question was in severe financial straits. What other reasons could there be for someone to voluntarily mutilate themselves? We truly hope that they are okay!
Don’t Forget Facebook
If you are claiming that you are injured in order to receive compensation, do not post incriminating images on your social media accounts. This is something that we have already mentioned, but it bears repeating because it is important. Even if you have your account set to private, a lawyer can still issue a subpoena and use it to gain access to your profile through the platform itself.
Don’t Forget Facebook
The individual in this legal anecdote was posting images of herself lifting weights while at the same time claiming to have severe whiplash injuries. She stated that she was unable to travel, but then she went on to post pictures of herself in Las Vegas. Really, you’re a girl?
It Pays Off To Be Quiet
In the case at hand, the other side’s legal representation failed to adequately listen to the proceedings, which led to the client’s case being dismissed. Or perhaps because they were unable to let something go despite their best efforts. As we’ve seen already, it’s important to give some thought to what you want to say in court before you actually say it. It’s not always the best strategy, but sometimes it pays off to just keep quiet and have faith that everything will work out.
It Pays Off To Be Quiet
This is precisely what occurred when the opposing counsel continued to speak at length about a matter that had already been decided. This lawyer won the case simply by remaining silent.
That Simple Note
This is a satisfying legal story in which an individual’s opponent made a complete fool of themselves. We have returned to the family court, and this time we are dealing with a contentious divorce. In essence, a mother did everything in her power to prevent the father of her children from gaining any custody or visitation rights to his or her children.
That Simple Note
Unbelievably, just when it appeared as though nothing could be done to save the situation, the mother handed the judge a note and asked him to read it. The judge immediately apologized to the man for the years of wrongdoing that had been committed against him, and the wife was handcuffed.
Construction Law
And once again, we have someone who was unsuccessful in their legal battle because they did not pay sufficient attention to the particulars of the situation. In this particular court case, the opposing counsel literally forwarded a link to their competitors’ website that debunks the claims made by the latter. It would appear that there are stringent regulations in place in France regarding the construction of new buildings in close proximity to historical structures. Makes sense.
Construction Law
On the other hand, the attorneys in question argued that a certain person’s house could not be modernized because it could be seen from a bell tower. Incredibly, their connection demonstrated the exact opposite of what was expected.
Restraining Order Granted Right Away
There are times when a lawyer does not need to do all that much in a hearing because their opponent cannot help but reveal themselves. In this instance, which involved a restraining order, that is exactly what transpired.
Restraining Order Granted Right Away
The short version is that a woman filed a restraining order against her husband because he was a violent and aggressive person. She provided some examples of the different types of threats that he had made towards her while they were both present at the hearing. Her husband intervened at this point to demonstrate unequivocally who he was by threatening her once more.
Need The Money Back
People are more likely to reveal the true nature of who they are and what is truly important to them when they are in a legal situation. In this peculiar scenario, the ex-boyfriend of someone’s mother took the family to a local small claims court to seek reimbursement for any financial outlays made during their time together. We’re not just talking about high-end presents here; cheeseburgers and Kit Kats are fair game as well. Get a grip, dude!
Need The Money Back
The judge, thankfully, saw through this guy’s ridiculous facade and found him guilty. After chastising him for mistaking a birthday cake for a loan, he decided not to pursue the matter further.
Is This Your Tree?
Here we have yet another fantastic story, which, due to its absurd nature, is one of our favorites among all of them. Someone walks into a tree branch, claims to have suffered a “serious injury,” and then sues the owners of the tree for compensation. They show up in court with photographs, bills from the hospital, and testimony about the psychological damage they suffered. In the end, it appears that the one who climbs trees will come out on top.
Is This Your Tree?
When the owner of the tree is questioned by the tree-attorney tripper’s and asked, “Is this your tree?” the owners of the tree admit that it is not their tree. They then leave after showing a picture of their actual Christmas tree.
Focus On The Prize
On occasion, the tactic of a legal team will be to attempt to outdo their opponent with an overwhelming amount of information. The idea behind this strategy is that if you overwhelm your adversaries with a mountain of evidence, such as hundreds of hours of footage or hundreds of boxes of documents, they won’t have the time, energy, or motivation to sift through everything in order to find the proof they need.
Focus On The Prize
Of course, a good number of lawyers take immense satisfaction in accomplishing tasks such as these. These individuals have obviously not watched Better Call Saul or Spotlight.
Don’t Deny
If you ever find yourself in a courtroom, here is some sound advice: if you have already been found guilty of a crime, do not make the mistake of attempting to challenge the fact that you committed that crime. Even though we aren’t lawyers, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to argue that you would never do something when you’ve already been caught doing it. Hey, we’re not lawyers, but it seems like a bad idea to argue that you would never do something.
Don’t Deny
Second Time’s a Charm
Someone denied engaging in contract fraud in this legal discussion that was posted on Reddit. It didn’t take the opposing lawyer much to win the argument; all he had to do was bring up the defendant’s previous conviction.
Stop Complaining
Oh, we’ve already picked this up, but people really need to refrain from talking about how precarious the legal situation is. Even a comment made off the cuff like this one can be enough to bring an entire case crashing down, as we can see from this example.
Stop Complaining
In this instance, the opposing counsel was upset that their client was required to go to additional effort in order to retrieve some essential documents. The opposing side was able to deduce, solely based on the information that was provided, that the individual in question was not familiar with the documents, and as a result, they were excluded from the case.
He’s Not Here
People who are unable to pay for their own private attorney are represented in court by a public defender in the United States of America as well as in many other countries. It’s not an easy job, and there are plenty of highs and lows along the way. In this court case, the public defender was attempting to argue that her client’s identification had been stolen, and that the thief was the one who was responsible for the crime for which her client was being charged.
He’s Not Here
It turned out that he was telling the truth, as the victim of the robbery was unable to correctly identify the offender who had committed the crime in the courtroom. Hooray!
Haven’t Seen It For Years….
If you get to the point where you have to defend yourself in court, you really ought to have something more substantial to say than simply that you can’t find anything. This is especially the case if the topic being discussed in the courtroom is directly related to the thing in question.
Haven’t Seen It For Years….
In this particular instance, a trucking company is being taken to court for allegedly paying its employees below-market rates. When pressed for additional information, the only thing the employers can say is that they haven’t seen the required documents in years. This is not acceptable.
Dumbest D.A.
This legal matter has been handled in an obviously unfair manner from the very beginning. Someone was driving their mother’s car when they were stopped for playing loud music (is that a crime?). After further investigation, the person was found to be in possession of a controlled substance. The substance in question? The prescription drugs belonging to his mother were found in the car, clearly labeled with her name.
Dumbest D.A.
The absurdity of it all is that this case makes it all the way to court, where the district attorney calls it a “circumstantial evidence case.” Legally speaking, this indicates that the jury has no choice but to acquit the defendant.
Not Enough Time
And to top it all off, we have yet another individual who has gotten themselves into legal trouble by speaking before they think things through. In this sticky legal situation, a client asserts that their former attorney did not perform their duties in an adequate manner. According to their new legal representation, the prior counsel did not properly communicate and did not ask the appropriate questions during the proceedings.
Not Enough Time
The preceding attorney then gives a response, saying that he didn’t have time to prepare for the case because he was too busy. The judge understands, quite correctly, that this is the very definition of incompetent representation by counsel.