Case of the day

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Dazed and confused


Judges, whether trial or appellate, are not ferrets, obligated to engage in unassisted searches of the record for evidence to support a litigant's position.

Eberhardt v. Eberhardt, 672 N.W.2d 659 (2003)

[Ronin]

Judges, whether trial or appellate, are not ferrets, obligated to engage in unassisted searches of the record for evidence to support a litigant's position. Eberhardt v. Eberhardt, 672 N.W.2d 659 (2003)

The cited opinion is a given, having been reiterated in similar form in other appellate opinions. The bottom line is litigants are expected to make their points and support their arguments with appropriate cites to the record. If the litigant fails to point out something important in the record that is not readily apparent to the court, it is not the courts responsibility to scour what could easily be several hundred to thousands of pages of transcripts and records looking for such evidence to support the litigants position.

[quincy]

Judges are not ferrets, huh? Perhaps. But I've met a few who are weasels, and one or two who are skunks, and one who is known to badger court officers and journalists.