Ride the Lightning

SKEPTICAL JUDGE CAUSES WOBBLY KNEES

June 23, 2008

It is always extraordinary what lawyers will argue to judges.

We recently had the honor of lecturing on electronic evidence with The Honorable Gerald Bruce Lee (E.D.V.A.), who not only is a great presenter but looks both dapper and elegant in a seersucker suit and a straw hat. Now, if you know Judge Lee, you know he is a great entertainer – his real calling is as a raconteur.

His story of the day was about a hapless attorney who insisted that her three clients, who had bolted from Plaintiff’s company and gone to a competitor, had only taken one important e-mail with them, which could not be recovered because it had been deleted. Judge Lee, in classic form, said “Oh, really? So counselor, your clients have the only computer in the world where, when they delete something, it can’t be recovered? Imagine that.” I can only imagine the wobbly knees of the badly misinformed lawyer.

Compounding her difficulties, the lawyer continued to insist that her client had only taken with them the one e-mail and nothing else. Cynical as always, Judge Lee pressed his point. “Well, this is going to be a very interesting case because I’ve never seen a case where employees left a company for a competitor and only took one e-mail. But I’m ready for that case – in fact, I’m mighty eager for that case. But should the evidence come to prove they took more, then you might seriously want to advise your clients to talk settlement."

Predictably, they settled. Judge Lee doesn’t figure he’s ever going to see a real “we only took a single thing” case and he’s probably right. For sure, we never have.

Thanks for the pleasure, Judge Lee – if ever the judge gig doesn’t work out for you, we’re happy to take you on the road with us anytime!

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