Lawyers. Ugh.

How can you tell if a lawyer is telling a lie? His lips are moving....

Normally I hate those kinds of lawyer jokes. I try so hard to be decent, trustworthy, honest... I don't like to be made fun of in that way... but sometimes I totally see where these things come from.

I'm currently dealing with a case in which the attorneys on the other side are untrustworthy. They literally lie and cheat. It is despicable. They are the type who give rise to "jokes" like the one above.

Example: Case is pending in a forum which allows for electronic filing of documents and service by email or U.S. Mail. You get 5 days to respond, but you get extra time added to that if service is by U.S. Mail. Attorneys for the other side e-filed a motion. The service certificate attached to the motion states that they emailed it to me on the date it was filed. It does not state that it was snail-mailed. I received a copy via U.S. Mail 5 days after it was filed. Remember: the response time was 5 days, if served by email. So now I am receiving a motion and the response is due later that same day.

So I called and told them I did not receive the emailed copy and had just received the mailed copy, and asked if they would stipulate to extend the response time. They refused. They forwarded me a copy of an email confirmation from the Court allegedly proving that they emailed a copy to me on the day they filed it. I emailed back, explaining that their mistake was now clear -- they had entered the email address improperly, and so it did not get to me. They still refused to stipulate to an extension.

So I filed a motion to extend time, explaining to the judge that I had not received the motion until 5 days after it was filed, via U.S. Mail, and asking for more time to respond.

They had the nerve to file a response to my motion, attaching the email confirmation from the Court, and claiming that it "proved" they had served me by email on the day they e-filed the motion. A flat-out lie, given that I had already explained to them their error and that, even if they tried, they did not in fact email me a copy.

So then I had to file a reply, explaining the whole incorrect email thing. I attached a copy of the email I had sent them explaining about the incorrect email entry -- which was sent well before the time they filed their response alleging proper service.

The judge granted my motion for extra time to respond to their motion. I hope he also realizes they are lying scumbags at this point, and will be skeptical of any other "facts" they allege.

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Sidenote (because, for now, I'm tired of footnotes): Typically in this forum, if you think you have properly served someone by email, you would not send another copy via U.S. Mail. So, the fact that they sent a copy by mail makes me think they actually knew, before I told them, that they had not in fact properly emailed their motion. Lying rats.