u/SkipFirstofHisName

A colleague went on a rant today about lawyers saying “at this time.”

He says it’s dated, throat-clearing, Neanderthal brain babble. Basically one of those dumb lawyer phrases we should all stop using.

Counterpoint: absolutely the fuck not.

Is it unc / Old-head? Yes. Does it add anything to the literal meaning of the sentence it precedes? Probably not. Has any normal human ever said those words in that order in any context in real life? Probably not.

I do not fucking care. You can pry it from my cold, dead hands, you Bryan Garner economy-of-words little shits.

Sometimes you’ve been examining a witness for 45 minutes. The judge is looking down. Opposing counsel is in a fugue state or playing sudoku or some shit. And I need to move in these stupid invoices on a business record exception.

“At this time, Your Honor…”

See? glad to see you, everyone. Welcome back. That’s all it does. That’s all I need it to do.

This job is hard. Let me have my stupid little transition phrase.

At this time, I’d like to end my post and ask the court for your upvotes please. Thank you.

I’m a trial lawyer, and evidence is my jam. So I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I still do not really understand the ritual of judicial notice.

I understand the doctrine. I understand the kind of thing the Court can take notice of. But every time I actually ask for it, the exchange feels like this:

Me: Your Honor, I’d ask the Court to take judicial notice of [Poor Richard’s Almanack reflecting that it was sunny in Philadelphia on July 4, 1759 / the fact that Petitioner was adjudicated guilty of fraud on April 1 in X County / the Secretary of State’s website showing Defendant was administratively dissolved in 2018].

Court: Okay.

Me: …

Court: …

Me: So, just to be clear, the Court is taking judicial notice?

Court: Sure.

Me: …

Opposing counsel: …

Court: …

And then everyone just moves on with no opportunity to respond or acknowledgment at all.

It has gotten to the point where I’ve started testing the limits. I’ll ask the Court to notice some public filing, then describe it with my own editorializing and still no one says anything.

Maybe it’s because notice is for indisputable, verifiable facts that can’t be contested so there’s no need to say anything but still it’s awkward every single time.

EDIT: I’ve made the classic lawyer mistake of making a joke near other lawyers. So yes, I appreciate that some of you are now litigating whether “sure” constitutes a sufficiently clear ruling for preservation purposes.

But, unfortunately, that was the joke. :)