by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
“We can do better.”
That was the message Wednesday from U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Corrigan to a group of law students interning at various legal offices in Jacksonville.
Corrigan hosted the group of about 50 law students in his courtroom at the United State Courthouse at Jacksonville. The students are interning at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, the City’s Office of General Counsel and the State Attorney’s Office. The seminars have welcomed new groups of interns for the last four years.
“You need to set the bar high for professionalism,” said Corrigan. “If you just do what is expected of you, then it’s not too far to slip under that line and find yourself in trouble.”
Corrigan pointed to a variety of briefs that lacked professionalism and attention to detail. One example involved two lawyers who couldn’t agree on the location of the deposition involving a group from Texas versus a group from Wal-Mart, which is based in Arkansas. After receiving some briefs containing jabs about which state had the better college football team, the judge decided the two groups would meet on the state line between the two states and neither would touch the other’s soil.
“These rulings are to say, ‘We can do things better than this,’” said Corrigan.
This example was followed by a story about two lawyers who were ordered to play a game of rock, paper, scissors to decided the location of a deposition. The humor continued when Corrigan delved into aliases used in the filing of suits. He pointed out cases including United States versus Space Monkey, Hungry Hippo and Pig Turd.
The tone was a little more serious when Corrigan described what happens in Courtroom 10-B. He explained that federal judges hear between 500-600 cases a year. Some of the cases in Corrigan’s court have included drugs, guns, FEMA, public corruption, immigration fraud on the criminal side; contract disputes, tort cases, employment discrimination, disability and patent infringement on the civil side.
Another piece of professionalism is attention to detail, and this is especially important when proofreading motions. One brief Corrigan used as an example referred to a judge as “horrible” instead of honorable.
“Spell check is great, but you need to read your stuff,” said Corrigan. “Please be careful with what you file.”
The group was also informed about how technology has improved the courtroom. Corrigan’s court was equipped with a screen that displays real time court reporting. The judge doesn’t have to ask the court stenographer to read back testimony. It is now typed into the computer and he can scroll through it whenever he needs to. The court can see the testimony on a screen almost as big as a ping pong table, which hangs from the ceiling next to Corrigan’s bench.
The presentation of cases has also been improved through technology. Lawyers can plug their computers into the court system and display floor plans or photos on the large screen during a trial.
The lecture was followed by questions from the group and a tour of the judge’s chambers.