On the subject of lying adversaries, there is no winning here, only degrees of losing. It is a sad and troubling part of our business. One commentator called it "The brutality of family law." The difficulty is that the lie is often in the eye of the beholder, or is not serious enough to disturb the court. To the Judge caught in the fire of cross-certifications, it can often look like both parties are doing the same thing. So the secret is to differentiate yourself best you can, to not go for the bait. If the issue is serious and the lie is provable, those are the ones that require judicial attention and are worth fighting about. We have had the experience in some cases that it takes a year or more before the Judge can clearly see who's being naughty and nice. And then, guess what? Herroner or Hizzoner switches to a different Division, and we find ourselves pushing Sisyphus's boulder up the hill again. Judges tell us that just as we talk about them among ourselves, they talk about us among themselves.
So, it may be cold comfort, but it is likely that major league dissemblers' reputations precede them to court. Perhaps we don't need to be so worried that our Judge doesn't get it. Hanan I, too, am currently dealing with an adversary who has already accused me of saying and doing things that I have never and would never do. I'm at... Re: How to handle lying adversary | | | I, too, am currently dealing with an adversary who has already accused me of saying and doing things that I have never and would never do. I'm at a loss as to how to handle him. I wish I could offer some good advice for you, but I am in need, as well. The last time we were in court, the judge told him to sit down and shut up, and he said he acted like he had never been in court before. I wish the judge would so more, because that did not get through to him.
| Even the most contencious cases can be low-stress if an adversary is an honorable professional. The vast majority of us are, especially after a few years when we learn to draw an emotional boundary between us and a case.
However, I have an adversary who is, not to mince words, an unethical liar. I don't mean that he passes on things from his client that common sense would dictate are BS, I mean personally and repeatedly. Denying receipt of letters even when there's a fax confirmation, and, most recently, inventing and backdating a letter that he claims was sent in response to a request for him to speak with his client to avoid an enforcement motion. This attorney was recently personally sanctioned $25,000 in a case that made the law journal, and is about to be on the wrong end of an Ability to Comply hearing in his own case and may be facing jail.
The adversary claims the back-dated letter at issue was faxed to me, but I receive all faxes electronically and can prove it wasn't done via an incoming fax log.
My question / issue is that.... Judges understably don't like squabbling between attorneys and, even with a "gotcha" like this, they don't want to be "in the middle" or where they have to make a determination like this (no one likes this - including me). This attorney has used the general tactic of waiting for a filing, then firing back with "they're being litigious" and putting in BS that takes a lot of space to rebut. The case has been through 7 judges and all but one have burned out on it. Too much paperwork and it requires too much thought to see who's full of it (the one judge who didn't burn out is now in the App Div - he said he'd taken the file home with him at one point, and he knew it inside and out. He shredded what this attorney and his client were claiming and issued 3 or 4 sanction orders in a row and, magically, the litigation stopped and the guy started complying for several years - until that Judge left). Even though the bill has always been covered (through her family, she's broke), I told her to get another attorney at one point and she did, and I regret taking it back. It's 9 boxes of documents....the stress from it is just, there's no words for how unpleasant.
As said, judges don't like dealing with crap like this. Adversary is fully aware of that fact and that actions like his box me in to either saying "judge - look here, this lawyer is lying" and showing it, or letting it go. Adversary is counting on the judge being too turned off by it all to investigate. Maybe this message is 1/2 a vent, but -- have others been here? What do you do? How do you handle it? Any suggestions appreciated.
Thanks.
David Perry Davis, Esq.
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www.FamilyLawNJ.pro
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112 West Franklin Avenue
Pennington, NJ 08534
Voice: 609-737-2222
Fax: 609-737-3222 |
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Original Message------
Even the most contencious cases can be low-stress if an adversary is an honorable professional. The vast majority of us are, especially after a few years when we learn to draw an emotional boundary between us and a case.
However, I have an adversary who is, not to mince words, an unethical liar. I don't mean that he passes on things from his client that common sense would dictate are BS, I mean personally and repeatedly. Denying receipt of letters even when there's a fax confirmation, and, most recently, inventing and backdating a letter that he claims was sent in response to a request for him to speak with his client to avoid an enforcement motion. This attorney was recently personally sanctioned $25,000 in a case that made the law journal, and is about to be on the wrong end of an Ability to Comply hearing in his own case and may be facing jail.
The adversary claims the back-dated letter at issue was faxed to me, but I receive all faxes electronically and can prove it wasn't done via an incoming fax log.
My question / issue is that.... Judges understably don't like squabbling between attorneys and, even with a "gotcha" like this, they don't want to be "in the middle" or where they have to make a determination like this (no one likes this - including me). This attorney has used the general tactic of waiting for a filing, then firing back with "they're being litigious" and putting in BS that takes a lot of space to rebut. The case has been through 7 judges and all but one have burned out on it. Too much paperwork and it requires too much thought to see who's full of it (the one judge who didn't burn out is now in the App Div - he said he'd taken the file home with him at one point, and he knew it inside and out. He shredded what this attorney and his client were claiming and issued 3 or 4 sanction orders in a row and, magically, the litigation stopped and the guy started complying for several years - until that Judge left). Even though the bill has always been covered (through her family, she's broke), I told her to get another attorney at one point and she did, and I regret taking it back. It's 9 boxes of documents....the stress from it is just, there's no words for how unpleasant.
As said, judges don't like dealing with crap like this. Adversary is fully aware of that fact and that actions like his box me in to either saying "judge - look here, this lawyer is lying" and showing it, or letting it go. Adversary is counting on the judge being too turned off by it all to investigate. Maybe this message is 1/2 a vent, but -- have others been here? What do you do? How do you handle it? Any suggestions appreciated.
Thanks.
David Perry Davis, Esq.
----------------------------------------------------
www.FamilyLawNJ.pro
----------------------------------------------------
112 West Franklin Avenue
Pennington, NJ 08534
Voice: 609-737-2222
Fax: 609-737-3222 |
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