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Can an attorney be sanctioned by misquoting the law?

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What is the name of your state? UT

Can an attorney be sanctioned by misquoting the law on something extremely obvious?

Think of a law you know very well and probably 100% of anyone who read it would know what it means.

Lets say an attorney quote that law but tells the judge that it means the exact opposite of what it said.

Is that ground for sanctions or ethical violations?
 


Taxing Matters

Overtaxed Member
What is the name of your state? UT

Can an attorney be sanctioned by misquoting the law on something extremely obvious?

Think of a law you know very well and probably 100% of anyone who read it would know what it means.

Lets say an attorney quote that law but tells the judge that it means the exact opposite of what it said.

Is that ground for sanctions or ethical violations?
It will depend on the specifics of what the attorney does, of course. It is not uncommon for attorneys to argue that a particular law has different interpretations and to urge the court to adopt the interpretation that most favors his/her client. That's what lawyers are supposed to do and there is no violation of court rules or the rules of professional conduct for that. it is also not a violation for an attorney to make a mistake on the law. If, however, a lawyer intentionally misleads the court on what the law is, the lawyer can be sanctioned for that.

If you provide the actual situation that prompted the question you might get better feedback on whether the argument made the attorney violates any rules.
 

quincy

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? UT

Can an attorney be sanctioned by misquoting the law on something extremely obvious?

Think of a law you know very well and probably 100% of anyone who read it would know what it means.

Lets say an attorney quote that law but tells the judge that it means the exact opposite of what it said.

Is that ground for sanctions or ethical violations?
Here is a link to Utah's Rules of Professional Conduct:
https://www.utcourts.gov/resources/rules/ucja/#Chapter_13
To which of your self-reported many legal actions does this question apply?

As a note: FreeAdvice is not designed as a "discussion" forum but rather is a forum designed to assist with real life legal problems with which a person has questions and needs some guidance.
 
I would say it would be something that 100% of the people reading it would understand the meaning except for 1 overzealous attorney trying to make a name for himself.

Utah UTAH CODE ANN. §68-3-12.5 (2014) §68-3-12.5. (16) "Person" means: (a) an individual; (b) an association; (c) an institution; (d) a corporation; (e) a company; (f) a trust; (g) a limited liability company; (h) a partnership; (i) a political subdivision; (j) a government office, department, division, bureau, or other body of government; and (k) any other organization or entity

http://www.ncsl.org/documents/lsss/tue_haskins_handout2.pdf
According to this so called attorney, person means "only an Individual human being" NOT a association, NOT an institution, Not a corporation, NOT a company, NOT a trust, NOT a limited liability company, NOT a partnership, NOT a political subdivision, NOT a government office, division, bureau or other body of government and NOT any other organization or entity. He actually quoted his law and copied and pasted the entire definition as justification for what he was saying even thought it said the exact opposite.

Basally he said it means the exact opposite of what its started and quoted this exact section as his justification.
This guy was a little kid playing some opposite day game.

I did not know if it was like " Bring your kid to work day" and he had a young child drafting attorney response letters and emails or if this guy was for real. I actually heard of a surgeon who brought his kid into work and had him participating in surgeries on people. However never a lawyer doing this.

Also he stuck by this " interpretation" after months of being told otherwise and asking him to read the law again. It was not some technical oversight but something he stood by and double down on over and over.

That is why I am asking for sanctions or disbarment because it was so egregious. I think this guy just did not like me so he was willing to violate whatever ethics he may have had just to stop me from getting what I wanted or he was the most retarded lawyer to ever get a law degree.

What do you guys think? Just add the word " NOT" to whatever law they quote like a 6 year old? Is that anyway for an officer of the court to act?

Quote me any law that is very obvious what it means. I will add the word " NOT" in front of it and claim that is the true meaning of the law.

Completely absurd. Is this justifiable complaint on this so called attorney?
 
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Taxing Matters

Overtaxed Member
He actually quoted his law and copied and pasted the entire definition as justification for what he was saying even thought it said the exact opposite.
If he quoted the statute and then just argued that the definition does not apply to this particular circumstance or that the definition means something other than what it says then the attorney might be making a stupid argument but he is not misrepresenting the law. He's provided the text of the actual statute, so there is no misleading the court here. The court can read the statute just as you can. It would be a problem if he forged the statute to read differently than it really does, or failed to provide the applicable statute and represented something else as the law. The idea here is that the lawyer needs to provide the court with the proper relevant law. He can argue anything he likes about how that law applies to the case. The fact that you disagree with the argument is a different issue from the lawyer misrepresenting what the actual law is. Here he quoted the statute, so there was no misrepresentation. He just argued it applied differently or meant something different than what it says. Poor argument, perhaps, but not misleading because the court has the actual law right in front of it and can decide for itself what weight to give the argument the lawyer is making.
 

quincy

Senior Member
I'm guessing this lawyer is on the other side of your dispute and probably kicking your ass in court. Good luck with that.
... I did not know if it was like "Bring your kid to work day" and he had a young child drafting attorney response letters and emails or if this guy was for real. I actually heard of a surgeon who brought his kid into work and had him participating in surgeries on people. However never a lawyer doing this.

Also he stuck by this " interpretation" after months of being told otherwise and asking him to read the law again. It was not some technical oversight but something he stood by and double down on over and over.

That is why I am asking for sanctions or disbarment because it was so egregious. I think this guy just did not like me so he was willing to violate whatever ethics he may have had just to stop me from getting what I wanted or he was the most retarded lawyer to ever get a law degree.

What do you guys think? Just add the word " NOT" to whatever law they quote like a 6 year old? Is that anyway for an officer of the court to act?

Quote me any law that is very obvious what it means. I will add the word " NOT" in front of it and claim that is the true meaning of the law.

Completely absurd. Is this justifiable complaint on this so called attorney?
Or, worse, the attorney's kid is. :)
 
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