Lawyers, What Was Your "Oh Crap" Moment In Court?

lawyers of reddit what was your oh crap moment in court sat in on a personal injury case where the plaintiff broke their leg in an accident and had a doctor on the stand as an expert the woman's lawyer begins questioning the doctor about their experience with leg injuries he was a well-known orthopedic surgeon in the area she asks if he's ever treated a tibular fracture the leg bones are tibia and fibula to which he only answers no then she starts grilling him with questions about the tibula after about six seven questions she asks how did you get to medical listens and have been able to practice medicine this long if you've never treated a tibula fracture and begins a small rant about going after his credentials and those that gave it to him to which he simply responds there is no bone named the tibula the lawyer became beat red and everyone in the room tried their best to keep from laughing including the judge oh god i can feel the second hand embarrassment i was representing a plaintiff in a hit-and-run case plaintiff is testifying and is despite me preparing them for several hours the previous day an absolutely terrible witness for her own case like she couldn't even identify the street she was crossing when she was hit by the car it was a major highway and we had gone through the sequence of events countless times the day before the hearing the oh crap moment came during cross-examination defense counsel pulls out a picture of my client dressed up and ready to hit the club which was posted to facebook the day after the alleged accident i thinking quickly object because the time stamp refers to when it was posted not when it was taken defense counsel showed the picture to my client and asked her when the picture was taken sure enough they say it was taken the day after the accident when she was supposedly in unbearable pain oh crap not your fault good thing it happened too it means justice is served when i was in college i was a bailiff guy is on trial for murder first witness testified that she saw the defendant shoot the victim second witness states the same police officer testimony is that he arrived at the scene and defendant was there holding the gun coroner testimony is that the first bullet hit the victim in the arm the second bullet hit the victim in the torso and the third bullet hit the victim in the heart which was the fatal shot defendant yells out see that proves that i didn't kill him i only shot the mother sucker twice i was a baby lawyer in my first year representing the 19 year old child of some rich people in san mateo county ca my client had gone on a bit of a shoplifting spree and we were cleaning all her cases up with a global plea meaning we handled them all at once being new i filled out the plea form wrong swapping the count she was charged with for the count she was pleading to it's an easy mistake to make every court has their own unique form and i was unfamiliar with san mateos the judge calls my line starts reading off the plea form notices the mistake and then starts screaming at the top of his lungs council what is this what is this is this your first day on the job this is a courty floor and we do not accept mistakes fill this plea for might correctly or i will have you taken into custody for contempt i did not expect a reaction like that my client who had clearly just taken a huge bong rip at 8 am and who was wearing an all pink velvet track suit was looking at me like i was the biggest idiot in the world i corrected the plea form the judge made me wait until the very end of the calendar to take my plea afterward he called me up to the bench in private he told me sorry to ream you like that everyone messes the plea form up so i always pick the youngest lawyer to yell at the elder guys will grumble and complain but if you notice they all fix their own forms and we didn't have any more problems keeps the calendar running smooth where did you go to law school after that he invited me into his office for coffee and gave me some really good life work advice turns out he likes talking to new lawyers tl dr judge losses his crap in court over a simple mistake turns out it was all a show for the other lawyers and i have one of the worst best court experiences of my early career i am stupid i one thousand percent initially thought baby lawyer meant that you were a lawyer that represented babies represented a woman charged with multiple very serious felonies she insisted that in the months before the offense she'd been seriously dating one of the detectives who ultimately wound up investigating and testifying in her case for a variety of reasons i trusted this client and believed her even though the detective never disclosed the relationship in his report so during his testimony i asked detective smith you had a romantic relationship with me's defendant correct he goes what no one is visibly offended the judge looks at me like i've lost my mind the commonwealth attorney audibly says what i'm freaking out because a large part of my cross and argument was focused on the bias formed by the prior relationship and now i've got nothing and i've lost all credibility i try again detective smith have you had a physical relationship with me defendant as the commonwealth rises to objection the judge starts to scold me the detective goes oh yay we've had fricked it just wasn't very romantic state is virginia the jury acquitted my client of the relatively minor charge that the detective in my story was involved with being convicted of the other much more serious charges that detective had nothing to do with there was a confession and video on the serious charges so it was kind of a no-brainer sorry i'm being kind of intentionally vague there are no confidentiality concerns since this all happened in open court but it's distasteful to give out too much information about a client the detective was not disqualified his testimony was not thrown out impeachment no matter how good doesn't result in you getting to throw out a witness's testimony entirely by the way it wasn't really the sex that was the issue it was that he didn't disclose it to anyone and his repeated insistence under questioning that he didn't disclose it because it was irrelevant like watergate it's not the crime it's the cover-up that gets you but i don't get to demand the judge throw out the testimony or that charge just because the cop failed to disclose a prior relationship with the defendant i just get to point it out argue it in closing and then hope the jury also sees the relevance ooh you mean the freaking yes there was that uk bear with me on this one i was in court listening to the most boring old defense lawyer you've ever seen he was questioning the arresting officer in the case it was drugs or something like that anyway he's droning on about every little detail and the magistrate was constantly telling him to hurry along the arresting officer was getting noticeably annoyed and the room became empty pretty quick everyone was very bored and annoyed he was droning about details that i'm not sure anyone was really listening to or cared about anyway he went over arrest times and the likes with the officer time he admitted the suspect and released him he had bored the officer to the point where he was barely paying attention so he was admitted in at 21 45 on the night in question yes comer and released the night after yes comeron that was what just after 10 p.m yes what time after 10 i don't know quarter past 10 maybe so my client was detained for more than 24 hours um wait the penny dropped the officer let his guard down and had revealed he kept the defendant for more than 24 hours which is the max time for detention in the uk the defense rested and the magistrate threw the case out immediately well played sir well played it wasn't me that was the lawyer god called for jury duty was at the jury selection phase and they asked if anyone here thinks they should not blah blah defendant was in the room i raised my hand the defending lawyer looked at me like oh this ought to be good and asked me to explain i suggested i tell them in private he insisted i tell the courtroom i said okay i probably shouldn't be on this jury because i was on a previous jury for this man which returned a guilty verdict lawyer's face went oh crap commotion and await while they looked up records yep verified whole jury was now tainted everyone goes home and they start over it sounds like you saved yourself quite a tongue lashing by suggesting that it be in private i was interning for a judge we were in the middle of war dire for what was frankly not that exciting of a criminal case half-day trial expected not salacious details or violence or anything 75 potential jurors in the room and when my judge didn't let a guy out of jury duty because he'd have to pick up his kids that guy proceeded to say in front of everyone that if he was made to show up next week he'd make it the shortest trial ever and find him guilty right out of the gate my judge was an incredibly even keel guy nothing shook him or got to rise out of him and he was an expert at figuring out what he wanted to say in the most neutral fashion possible before he said it conversations with him took forever because there was a pause before every sentence but then but then this guy poisons an entire jury pool of 75 people we had to individually question each person to see if that little outburst was going to affect their impartiality etc 75 in camera interviews later judge pulls the guy back in in front of everybody and begins to scream at him about disrespecting him the courts and every other jurors time me the attorneys and the court reporter go whiteface because we didn't know this was coming the guy didn't have to sit for jury duty but i still don't know if he got to pick his kids up since he spent a couple days in jail for contempt this is probably why the couple jury selections i've been and they dismissed everyone at the first hint that person seemed like they didn't want to be there including the guy who sighed loudly then walked shaking his head to the jury box when his name was called judge instantly moved for his dismissal i was involved in a pretty messy custody case the other party was a mess and had kept the child from my client for a few weeks op was playing lots of stupid games and kept requesting continuances i requested a drug test which the judge ordered however the op didn't show up for it to clarify he did show up he just stood in front of the toilet for literally two hours and claimed he couldn't pee i was representing the plaintiff so the burden was on me i called multiple witnesses that testified to the defendant's drug use so opposing counsel decides to call their client for direct examination and asks you don't use h and crack right that is for the non-lawyers a very stupid question for many reasons especially considering his client didn't show up for his drug test however i fully expected the defendants to just lie and say he was clean after the question was asked there was a really long pause and the defendant said yes i do both of those drugs my head almost exploded i didn't ask any questions on cross-examination because i didn't want to muddy the waters i won and the child is doing great i genuinely don't understand how people are this stupid not mine but my boss is one she had to defend a small time delinquent as duty solicitor before going to court he asked her what he should do she explained to him if he was cooperative and truthful his sentence would be milder after hearing the case the judge asked him if he wanted to add something he got up and explained to the judge my counsel told me to be truthful so i wanted to tell you that i not only did the robbery i'm being heard for but also several others in the region he continued to admit to several robberies that had been unsolved yet and everyone even the state attorney were fascinating i suspect the truth did not set him free [Music] mine actually happened while i was sitting in the jury pool during via dire the case was a double homicide and the jury pool filled the entire courtroom if you are not familiar with via dire it is when the lawyers ask the potential jurors questions to determine who they want to sit on the jury and who they want to exclude it is a long and boring process for almost everyone involved but 9 stroke 10 it's the most important stage in a case so the lawyers are asking us questions and if that question applied to you you raised your hand and they handed you a microphone to answer the question the question asked was do you or anyone you know have prior knowledge of this case so this older gentleman raised his hand is handed the mic and proceeds to say yeah i work at a police station as a janitor and i heard two detectives talking about him points to defendant and they were saying he was about as guilty as sin we all kind of stared open-mouthed like this guy and i started chuckling because i couldn't believe what i was seeing naturally the defense attorney asked to approach the bench followed quickly the by the state prosecutor after some quick and energetic whispering the judge addressed the man do you realize what you just did you potentially poisoned this entire jury pool i will be calling your boss and you will be hearing about this you can count on that you are dismissed sir but this isn't over the man was escorted out and then the judge addressed the remaining jury pool which was still in a mostly packed room now i want you all to disregard what that man just said i'm sure if any of you were ever accused of a crime like this you would want a fair trial and not be condemned based on the words of one old man i have been in court many times since but never have i seen that level of downright jaw-dropping absurdity again literally the first thing i ever did was just a law student in turn guy has a legit defense on a drug possession case drugs found in a jacket guy wasn't wearing jacket they were going to have a very difficult time proving the jacket belonged to my guy had a long meeting with client explained everything client was excited day of the preliminary hearing guy shows up and sits down directly in front of the officer who arrested him while wearing the jacket in question the exact same jacket we were going to say they couldn't prove belonged to him not in court bits at a tribunal and also i was plaintiff suing for wrongful termination my rip so you terminated him because he was ill employer yes mr and he was ill because he is disabled employer yes mr so you fired someone for being disabled employer yes was in court for a directions hearing the judge was already in a bad mood and asked why we were here for such a seemingly pointless litigation without giving details he was right the barrister starts to make our case and i am taking note about areas we need to further explore when i hear excuse emmy why were you so rewarded to emmy the client who had been told to not come had come to court that day and was evidently incensed by the judge questioning the merit of their case they berated the judge for about three minutes with me and my counsel first stunned and then trying to shut them up before he adjourned the hearing the case did not go very well to my client's surprise and fury big sigh those are always the ones who are totally shocked when it doesn't go their way not me but my former law partner she was in court representing a client i think in a hearing for a restraining order against her soon-to-be ex-husband our client was telling the judge that when they met to exchange the children for visitation the ex had kipped her he immediately angrily shouted she can't prove it i didn't leave a mark thanks buddy there was something like this on judge judy when she was asking the plaintiff about items stolen from her bag the defendant quickly jumped in and said something in particular wasn't in said bag busted probably the funniest one i ever came across happened to a colleague we were prosecutors then 18 year old defendant applying for bail he needed a residential address and got his dad to show up at court to confirm that the family home was available to him defense lawyer gets old dad to confirm that son can stay at family home dad says yes my fellow prosecutor gets up and asks dad do you really want him home dad goes off the deep end jesus the grief he's brought me and his mother out all hours taking drugs hiding stolen property in the garage all night parties i'm on antidepressants and the wife's had a nervous breakdown dad goes off on one for five solid minutes as the defendant gets taken back to the cells he calls out thanks dad i owe you one two moments in a dui trial one passenger is testifying for drivers sobriety when the door asks her you keep saying he was sober but are you even tip certified a course for bartenders so they can recognize drunk patrons she was two the head of the county's blood lab accidentally admitted he cranked the sensitivity of his machine's way up because he was experimenting on two thanks krieger obligatory i know but in a pre-mediation meeting once for an uninsured motorist claim an insured had alleged that she couldn't walk without the aid of a cane and had a pronounced limp after an accident due to a low back injury and a shooting pain in her right leg the doctor notes didn't support anything but a subjective injury after a few weeks but she was still treating two years later and going to new physicians so we had her followed covertly to see if she was really using the cane and had a limp etc we got footage of her carrying like four grocery bags in each arm to her car in a walmart parking lot walking perfectly fine when she got to her car she even opened the trunk of her suv without putting any bags down and lifted the gate with her knee partway her elderly mother was with her using a particularly decorative purple cane with a flower pattern on it they followed her to a doctor appointment an hour later and she's on video using her mother's cane and walking with a limp that would give forrest gump a run for his money never did follow up on how that played in the mediation but i can only imagine it gave some attorney an oh crap moment my grandfather was a pie it's amazing how freaking dumb people are when it comes to insurance fraud person i was representing was on trial for assault and the third degree in dui in my state a3 means you've assaulted an aid worker or police officer and is a felony the allegations are that he was very verbally abusive to the officers and at one point kicked one in the face we're sitting at the defendant's table and the officer is testifying about the statements my guy made to him including some pretty horrific name calling out of nowhere my client screams your freaking liar frick you you son of a bee we lost the trial another time the judge asked a client whether anyone had coerced him into pleading guilty and he said yeah my attorney i about crap my pants but he laughed and said i'm joking number not a lawyer but a defendant as a teenager i got busted with a couple of buddies throwing eggs at cars we were only actually in the courtroom for our sentencing there was no trial the judge called each of us up individually to ask us if we had anything to say one of my friends tells the judge that he is a good kid who doesn't normally do things like this lie we used to do it all the time and that i was just in the wrong place at the wrong time i wish there was a video of my other friend and i sitting in the benches watching this happen we simultaneously dropped our heads into our hands because we couldn't believe that idiot just said that the judge was not pleased and she took the opportunity to remind him that going to a store buying eggs going to another location across town and then throwing those eggs at cars was not just being in the wrong place at the wrong time i am sorry your honor i ah i didn't know i couldn't do that i'm not a lawyer but i was a character witness for my childhood dog in a civil trial between our neighbors and my parents opposing council was questioning me i wasn't even out of elementary school at the time and he asked if our dog was aggressive but she was a rottweiler and very loving and incredibly protective of me and my siblings his final question to me is one i will never forget he asked did your father tell you what to say before you came into court today i responded yes then he asked what did he tell you to say i said the truth now i was too young to remember the courtroom reaction but according to my father the judge audibly guffawed in the opposing council lost all the wind out of his sails character witness for my dog has me smiling they're so loyal to us we should return the favor i was at a hearing arguing that my client was wrongfully terminated because the employer failed to abide by the proper procedures during the hearing a witness for the employer tried to offer documents that were fraudulently altered in order to make it look like the proper procedure was followed i noticed the alteration opposing counsel quickly got that witness out of the room and after a quick adjournment my client got a large settlement as a law student we were allowed to make court appearances under the supervision of an assistant district attorney i was doing arraignments and my ada said don't talk to the judge unless he asks you a specific question so the judge and the defense attorney were going back and forth about when the next court date would be the judge wanted a specific date let's say 4 stroke 20 the defense attorney was adamant that she couldn't do that date in my file i had a calendar with a big x over four stroke 20 saying do not schedule the judge and defense attorney go back and forth for several minutes the judge wanted four stroke 20 and the defense attorney saying no i was keeping my mouth shut because the judge hadn't asked me directly finally the defense attorney relents and agrees to four stroke 20 the judge turns to me and says do the people agree with four-stroke 20 at which point i say sorry your honor but we cannot schedule for four stroke 20 the judge looked at me for a second and then just ripped into me mister jones one you just heard me and the defense go back and forth for several minutes about a date you knew the people can do do you like wasting the courts time it went on like that for a few minutes him just berating me in front of about 200 people in a court in brooklyn finally after me apologizing profusely and him giving me a withering glare we moved on and went to the next case at the next break the judge said mr jones one please approach the bench i thought i was really in for it then i walked up beside the bench the judge came down to talk to me and said with a big smile don't worry about it i was just giving you a hard time welcome to brooklyn criminal court opposing council was a nightmare everything late his work was extremely subpar and so forth accused me of lying multiple times when he had dropped the ball during another hearing in which he did another dumb move judge says i'm glad you are the last case on the call and all of the other attorneys have left the room so they aren't here to hear me say that you are a terrible attorney medical malpractice defense lawyer here representing hospitals doctors this was not my oh crap moment but plaintiff so crap moment for context usually at trial both plaintiff and defendant will have an expert physician testify as to their opinion to whether the doctor hospital performed everything correctly i thoroughly researched plaintiff's expert who was an object baby delivery and found out he had been suspended a number of times for his own botched deliveries and giving incorrect medical testimony to help plaintiff's cases during the actual day of trial turns out he was not licensed to practice medicine independently without supervision from another physician and he was one year into his three-year suspension plaintiff's lawyers had no idea about their own expert's background and they just sat there with a blank look on their face needless to say during cross-examination we destroyed his credibility and won at trial if you are new to the channel you can subscribe i publish new videos every day until then check another video [Music] bye for now

Channel: On Tap Studios

Views: 170,251

Rating: 4.8670387 out of 5

Keywords: lawyers, lawyers stories, worst moments, worst moment, worst, court, stupid criminals, worst moment in court, justice, trial, #updootst, updoot, reddit, r/askreddit, askreddit, ask reddit, r/, \r, r\, best of reddit, reddit stories, reddit story, top posts, funniest posts, funny, funny posts, funny askreddit, reddit funny, askreddit funny, askreddit stories, sub, reddit cringe, memes, comment awards, dankify, toadfilms, updoot everything, updoot reddit, chill, story, stories, reddit on tap

Id: Mm7JpwD7Uxc

Length: 25min 26sec (1526 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 20 2020