'Negligent' Stapling of Filing Cited By Judge in Tort Action
CORRECTED: A “negligent” stapling job on a court filing that twice drew blood from a court clerk drew the attention of a New York judge, who took time to note the sloppy stapling in a ruling denying a motion for default judgment in an auto accident case.
“The poor stapling of the papers was so negligent as to inflict, and did inflict repeatedly, physical injury to the court personnel handling them,” says Supreme Court Judge Charles Markey in a written opinion that explains his ruling in Jones v. Fuentes. “Such negligence on the part of counsel shows a lack of consideration.”
Though he cited the stapling in his ruling, Markey denied a motion because the notice of motion wasn’t signed by counsel and the motion lacked a plaintiff’s affidavit detailing injuries.
The stapling caution was reported by the New York Law Journal in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
The Long Island lawyer responsible for the filing, Jeffrey Hirsch, said it was an isolated occurrence; some 5,000 other filings have not been cited for any stapling deficiency, he tells the legal publication.
Post corrected on Oct. 3 after the Journal was made aware that the New York Law Journal had corrected its original article. See Jonathan Turley’s “Decoupling the Staple Story” for more details, a letter from Judge Markey and the NY Law Journal’s correction.
