We have had a number of posts concerning oral argument over the years, including a recent post on some best practices at oral argument. Thus far, we haven’t really focused on what not to do at oral argument, because frankly that could consume pages upon pages of posts. However, we found this recent article and couldn’t resist pointing this out. According to Law 360, a defense attorney who faked a stomach bug in order to get out of an oral argument before the Seventh Circuit (does this sound like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to anyone?) was suspended from the practice of law in Illinois for 60 days as a result of his actions. Apparently, the oral argument was this attorney’s first before the Seventh Circuit and he called in shortly before the argument to complain that he was not feeling well and could not make the argument. After the Seventh Circuit issued a show cause order based on his non-appearance, he fessed up that he had lied about the illness. The consequences in this case were fairly severe – a suspension for 60 days from the practice of law. So it does go to show that there are worse things that you can do at oral argument than simply lose your case.
