I just need to vent and I have to deal with this constantly. Whether it’s a family member, friend, pro se defendant, whichever, I do not understand why so many people pull up google and then challenge me. I know I’m not right 100 percent of the time, but like if I was listening to an engineer or doctor speak about something work related, in no way would I ever challenge them because that is not something I do? The worst is obviously when I go to court and a defendant does this. I had one once that told me the statute of limitations had run so I had to dismiss the case. I calmly explained the law and why the SOL hadn’t run, and she flat out kept telling me I was wrong and she knows it’s out of statute. I just said, “okay, that’s fine. Let’s just go speak to the judge.” Of course. I was right and then she paid our client in full.
Recently, another defendant actually printed an online article which said the statute ran after 6 years but of course, it wasn’t applicable. Not to mention, when I told her we could just go speak to the judge, she added, “and don’t put me at the end of the docket now either.” I said “I have no control over the order of the docket. That’s the court.” And she just smirked at me and said “oh sure.” I understand wanting to fight for yourself, but why would you assume I would risk my career on your fairly small lawsuit? I can’t just file lawsuits without taking civil procedure into account. I’m not going to lie to a judge just to “get you,” because that is not how this works. If everyone could just google the law, why do lawyers even exist!!! Anyone else have a story similar?