WSJ Law Blog didn't mention this in its story. You beat 'em again Lat.

Your source's metaphor doesn't work. Fowler tells the court that the Managing Partner, not Fowler, will be conducting an investigation. To even further abuse your source's metaphor, it is more (though still not really much at all) like the fox telling Animal Control that the farmer is conducting a full investigation.

A fox in fowl's clothing, perhaps?

poop

Lat is a bottom. This point is irrelevant but needed to be made. lol. I'm wasted.

Well, of course the counsel in the case should send the letter, not the managing partner of the firm.

Law students everywhere want to read your coverage of WaPo's coverage of xoxo

This law student would rather read Lat's coverage of tier 2 unemployment.

I call this BS. Fowler knew and may even be instrumental in this unethical conduct. I felt sorry for that poor associate who had to do what the partners told her to do or leave the firm.

8:53 - If the associate wasn't at fault would she just have let them fire her without any protest?

Addendum to the last post - She's now about as hireable as a tier 2 student.

Two observations: (1) 8:53 is correct. And I would add that people like this often get in more trouble for the (foiled) cover-up than the principal act itself; and (2) Is it even conceivable that the lead partner in the case didn't realize something was wrong? This is a small office of S&W. I'm in a much larger law firm and office, but I don't recall a single incident where the lead partner on the case didn't ask about a pleading the day it was due, that the pleading was circulated with a time-stamp to the team, etc. In a small office, I find this is an even more laughable proposition. This Fowler guy sounds like a complete idiot and the judge will smell this.

I smell a Charney-esque turn to come. Stander v. S&W! Allegedly, Fowler told Stander, "Now bend over and late file-stamp that pleading. I bet you like that."

Something that nobody seems to have noticed is that Snell & Wimber was LOCAL COUNSEL for Yamaha in this case. The primary counsel for Yamaha is Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP (http://www.kmob.com/) in California.

I think its highly unlikely that Mr. Fowler at S&W and the attorneys at Knobbe didn't know about what was going on. They would not have permitted a young associate to file a brief withouth looking at it first. No way. Yamaha needs to find new counsel.

12:25 -- Interesting point. I think the local counsel role raises the bar even more that Fowler had to know. There's no way that an outside law firm could exert enough pressure on an associate to do something like this. She surely would have gone to Fowler if the the other firm asked her to do this.

As the Utah District Court has CM/EMF, it makes little sense to handfile anything, unless you are a total luddite or else if you want to do as this young associate. But really, if the associate is to blame, where there accomplices? Did the associate take the facepage to the Court herself?

Plus, it was a reply -- does the Court even read these?

You could throw a football from Snell's office to the federal courthouse. this says "via email and first class mail". why not hand-deliver it?

Former Salt Lake Snell attorney checking in here. I probably have as much reason as anyone to harbor ill feelings about Snell, but there is ABSOLUTELY no way that Tracy Fowler was aware this was going on, much less condoned it. That is one of the best and most ethical lawyers I have ever worked with. Just wanted that to be known.

Carry on.

I am a former Salt Lake City Snell attorney with no ill-will toward that office at all. I greatly enjoyed my time there and the people who worked in that office, including Tracy Fowler. I agree with anon (March 8, 2007 12:01) that Tracy Fowler is a highly ethical lawyer and did not and would not have condoned this.

One of the great things about working in a branch office in a smaller market of a larger law firm based in a larger market is that young associates sometimes get more hands-on involvement in cases. Occasionally, a trusted associate will be able to run some aspects of cases all by themselves, and this includes the occasional filing. The most likely course of events in this situation (I can say with a high degree of certainty having worked at this office and with these people) is that there is no conspiracy or larger story at all. Angela just got into a difficult situation where she exceeded a deadline and tried to fix it by altering the time stamp. It was a stupid and dishonest thing to do and a mistake that I am certain Angela will regret for the rest of her life. She will certainly be embarassed about it for the rest of her life. And she has paid the price with her career.

As for the initial post and the email from the person who supplied the letter, I just want to note that the letter says that Tracy Fowler did not say that he was going to conduct a thorough investigation but rather that the managing partner of the Salt Lake City office, Alan Sullivan, one of the most respected, capable, and ethical lawyers in the region would be conducting the thorough investigation.

Rest assured that partners at all firms in Salt Lake City are now giving much higher scrutiny to the work and practice of the associates on their cases than they did before this incident when they would occasionally rely on the ethics and competence of their associates (for which we young associates were very grateful).