Top state court nixes $2.5M personal injury suit because filing fee was $2 short

A lawsuit isn’t officially filed until the full filing fee is paid, Virginia’s top court has ruled.

That means a $2.5 million personal injury suit a law firm tried to file a few days before the statute of limitations expired was correctly dismissed by Powhatan Circuit Court, because the filing fee paid was $2 short of the required total amount, the Virginia Supreme Court held in a Jan. 30 opinion.

The law firm sent the complaint in by mail, along with a check, and didn’t find out about the filing-fee issue until the final day the suit could be filed. It mailed the $2 immediately, but the payment wasn’t received and credited until several days later, according to Above the Law and Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Lawyer suspended for hiring disbarred lawyer who used assumed name in client meetings

A solo practitioner in New York state has been suspended for two years because he hired a disbarred lawyer, an old law school friend, as a paralegal and then gave the friend great autonomy.

Dean Gary Weber of Westbury, New York, was suspended for two years for assisting a nonlawyer in the practice of law, the New York Law Journal reports. The Legal Profession Blog quoted from the Jan. 28 opinion imposing the suspension by the New York Appellate Division, Second Department.

The disbarred lawyer, Craig Heller, used the assumed name Craig Miller when speaking with clients. Weber told the New York Law Journal the assumed name was intended to allay suspicion that Heller was working as a lawyer, rather than a paralegal.

Mea Pereruditus Amicus: Chapter 2

ETIQUETTE, CODE AND PERFECTION FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION

BY: Omolabake Adetunmbi (Mrs)

COURTESIES TO AND ADDRESSING THE COURT 

Hello Everyone,

This week, we are going to continue from the previous topic which was a general introduction on the language of the bar and we will educate ourselves on courtesies to and addressing the court.

For some of us, after the recently ended court strike, we are gearing up for our first ever appearance and I cannot overstate the importance of a lawyer addressing the Court with courtesy and propriety. Let me refresh your memory with the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) Section 31(1) which states that:

“A lawyer shall always treat the Court with respect, dignity and honour”

Section 36 of the same Rules provide us with the following:

“When in the courtroom, a lawyer shall-

b) conduct himself with decency and decorum, and observe the customs, conduct and code of behavior of the Court and custom of practice at the bar with respect to appearance, dress, manners and courtesy.

c) rise when addressing or being addressed by the Judge. “

 

There are differences in the way lawyers address different courts. We shall examine this in some detail.

 

CUSTOMARY COURT

A Customary court usually sits as a Panel or Tribunal with a President and other Members. The President and the Members are not lawyers, but are appointed based on their knowledge of the native laws and customs and religious faiths.

 

Counsel rise to greet the entry of the Panel, and also rise to address the court. The proper mode of address is :

 

“Mr. President and Members of the Court”

 

MAGISTRATE COURT

Magistrates Courts are not superior courts of record and counsel do not need to robe to appear there.

In the News…Buhari threatens to drag NTA, AIT to court over hate broadcasts

The Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, General Muhammadu Buhari (ret), has threatened to take legal action against the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, and the African Independent Television, AIT, for airing hate broadcasts against his personality.

This came on a day the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, warned all broadcasting stations operating in the country to adhere strictly to the provisions of the broadcasting code or risk sanctions.

In a protest letter lodged through the Legal Director of APC Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, SAN, Buhari, insisted that the two television stations must not only retract the “hate documentaries,” but also issue a public apology to him.

He said he would not hesitate to seek legal remedy should the television houses refuse to comply with the conditions.

In the News….Voyeurism, I learnt a new thing

Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions usually considered to be of a private nature. The term comes from the French voyeur which means “one who looks”. The dictionary defines it  as the practice of obtaining sexual gratification by looking at sexual objects or acts, especially secretively.

The principal characteristic of voyeurism is that the voyeur does not normally interact directly with the subject of his/her interest, who is often unaware of being observed. The essence of voyeurism is the observing but may also involve the making of a secret photograph or video of the subject during an intimate activity.

It is in the news that recently that Jean-Paul Manoux, also known as J.P. Manoux, has been arrested on voyeurism charges in Toronto. He’s scheduled to appear before a judge on March 11.

Mea Pereruditus Amicus: Chapter 1

ETIQUETTE, CODE AND PERFECTION FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION

BY: Omolabake Adetunmbi (Mrs)

THE INTRODUCTION

Hello,

Let me introduce this weekly discussion by bringing to the table the growing sense of unease and indeed outright dissatisfaction with the decay in the language which lawyers employ in and out of court.

It is now a common sight in most courts to see experienced and knowledgeable practitioners and other people cringe in pain when some advocates address the court. It is so bad that those insisting on the use of formal, proper courtroom language stand the risk of being labelled ‘colloquial’

Keen observers believe that there are several reasons responsible for this decay. These include:

Your Thoughts on the Court Strike

What are your thoughts on the current Court strike? I’m sure most of you are at work, the office is a bit quiet, so why don’t we express our own views on the matter.

A LITTLE HISTORY…

The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, (JUSUN) had approached the Federal High Court vide an originating summons brought pursuant to Order 3 Rules 6 and 7 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2009 seeking a declaration that the practice of releasing the funds of the Judiciary through the Executive was not only unconstitutional but had also reduced the Judiciary to a mere appendage of the Executive in the states. Besides, the State Executives were said to be deliberately starving the Judiciary in their respective states with funds in order to get positive judgments from the Judiciary.