It’s a rare occasion in legal circles when a case is dismissed due to a seemingly trivial issue as parking. However, it happened recently—an attorney attempting to represent an insurance company in a collection dispute saw his case dismissed due to an inability to find parking around the courthouse and consequently, his failure to appear for the case on time. This unusual incident sparked plenty of interest and raised eyebrows in the legal community who are known for their punctuality and readiness to face challenging circumstances in their professional life.
Superior Court Judge Helen M. Toor had given the attorney, representing Acuity Insurance Co., an additional 15 minutes to appear for the March 26 trial. The court generally allows for a five-minute grace period, so this was an act of added leniency. However, the lawyer’s non-appearance due to a lack of parking did not sit well with Judge Toor. View Judge Helen M. Toor’s official statements here.
Escalating irony, another attorney in the past famously abandoned his Ferrari on the road to ensure he made it to a hearing on time. Judge Toor opined that common hindrances like bad traffic, child tantrums, snowy roads, spilled coffee, or challenging parking are reasons for which a lawyer should allow extra time to get to court and are not justifiable reasons to reschedule a missed trial.
Parking challenge or not, when preparing for a trial, the legal wisdom encourages attorneys to arrive at least half an hour ahead of court schedules. Since the attorney in question had received an additional 15 minutes beyond the grace period, his excuse of spending 45 minutes looking for parking was deemed insubstantial. It is noted that the whole episode took place in Montpelier, Vermont, a place where distances are short and one could have parked across the town and still have reached the courthouse in 15 minutes – walking!
As a curious commentary on such incidents, for the lead-footed legal practitioners who find solace in their four-wheelers, it might be a good time to consider alternative means of transport, like taking a bus to their next hearing. To read about other remarkable instances like this one, click here.
If clearing dockets was simply about weeding out cases based on parking woes, the judiciary might find itself in a very different place!