An interesting case came out of the Wyoming Supreme Court today, Hembree v. State, 2006 WY 27, No. 15-158 (Wyo. October 11, 2006). Substantively, it's a fairly standard search and seizure case, though it does have some language helping todefine the scope of an extremely important Wyoming case, O'Boyle v. State, 2005 WY 83, 117 P.3d 401 (Wyo. 2005).
What I find interesting is the first three paragraphs of the discussion. Essentially, it appears to be a gentle admonishment about the quality of Hembree's statements of the issues. I particularly likethese paragraphsbecausetheyare a good way to handle a situation where counsel needs to correct something, and the court needs to communicate that. The first paragraph explains what the proper rule is and how the appellant's statement did not conform. Hembree, 2006 WY 27 at Par. 8. The second gives the reasons this is important. Id. Par. 9. The third explains how the court handled the situation in this case. Id. Par. 10.
This is all a very professional discussion, which is why I like it. There are no cutting remarks about the counsel involved, no effort to publicly demean them. It is simply a notice that this part of advocacy needs to be done differently. That seems a reasonable, civil, professional way to go about this. If it were me, I can tell you I would rather 1) have some indication that I needed to change something (rather than blindly go on with what I've been doing); and 2) have a reminder in Hembree's form than some diatribe. Perhaps if someone repeatedly made the same mistake a more pointed reminder would be warranted, but generally I think that sort of thing is inappropriate in a published opinion. It seems to me that is what both disciplinary systems and the "grapevine" are for.
To give you an idea of the extreme end, check out Bradshaw v. Unity Marine Corp., 147 F. Supp. 2d 668 (S.D. Tex. 2001). I don't think my imagination is adequate to comprehend what the lawyers must have submitted to provoke such vitriol. I know lawyers don't do things perfectly every time, and I've seen lawyers' sloppy work from time to time, both pointed out in classes and in the "real world," but this had to have been pretty bad.
Anyway,take a look atHembree. It is a good example of professionalism.
