Lawyer of the Day: E. Duncan Getchell Jr.
It's tough being a federal judicial nominee. Your entire legal career is gone over with a fine-toothed comb, and every mistake or misstep is brought to light, no matter how minor.
From the ABA Journal:
A lawyer nominated to a federal appeals court was lead attorney on an $8 million appeal that got tossed because the trial transcript was not filed by the deadline.E. Duncan Getchell Jr. of McGuireWoods asked the Virginia Supreme Court to hear the appeal anyway, but the judges refused, the Virginian-Pilot reports. Getchell’s five-page brief did not explain the reason for the failure, except to say there was a “miscommunication or misunderstanding.”
Perhaps there was a misunderstanding about whether trial counsel or appellate counsel (Getchell) should have filed the transcript. From the Virginian-Pilot:
The fact that Getchell’s firm filed the post-trial motions three weeks after the verdict “kind of suggests the baton was passed,” said William S. Geimer, a professor emeritus at Washington and Lee University Law School who teaches civil procedure.“It’s definitely the law firm’s responsibility,” Geimer said. “I don’t see any way for the law firm to escape responsibility if it was even partly or jointly responsible for the failure.”
Getchell did not return repeated calls to his office.
The Fourth Circuit has been shorthanded for a while now. And with the nomination of Duncan Getchell, that probably won't be changing anytime soon.
(Not necessarily because of this procedural snafu, but because Getchell's two home-state senators -- John Warner (R) and Jim Webb (D) -- don't seem to be backing his nomination.)
Costly Error Linked to 4th Circuit Nominee [ABA Journal via Blogonaut]
Error in major case tied to federal judge nominee [Virginian-Pilot via How Appealing]
E. Duncan Getchell Jr. bio [McGuire Woods]
(19) Comments
firsty first
t-o-a-s-t
If he was the lead attorney, he had a couple of associates (at least) and maybe a secretary/calendaring department to track this kind of thing.
It's a bonehead mistake, but not one I'd hold him personally responsible for. The "lead attorney" shouldn't have to recheck every little thing done on a case.
I'm no fan of the man's politics, but does the commission of a procedural error shed light on a nominee's fitness for the bench?
The 'lead attorney' doesn't have to recheck every little thing done on a case, but he is still responsible for the final product of his team. It is up to the lead attorney to surround himself with capable people, from associates to support staff.
Why do you think partners get pissed if associates screw something up? Because it reflects back on them.
he should just blame it on "faulty intelligence." that seems to be a popular way of weaseling out of disasters that leaders should be held responsible for
I have to point out the fact that McGuire Woods actually lists the attorney's place of birth in his bio. Is this a common thing for southern law firms? Southern-based businesses are unwilling to hire Yankee lawyers?
There may be point to this since our George W. Bush was actually born in none other than New Haven, Connectictut. Down with the eastern establishment!
his nomination was already in trouble what with it being opposed by both of his home state senators.
Whether lead counsel was directly responsible for the delivery of the record to the court of appeal or not, he is vicariously liable.
And in any event, the patent inadequacy of the motion for relief from default is even more of a problem.
Instead of FACTS constituting some kind of cognizable excuse he vaguely referred to a "misunderstanding".
It certainly does not evince the kind of meticulous work one would expect from a qualified nominee to an appellate court.
But the real road block appears to be that his name was not selected from the list of ABA vetted judicial candidates.
Good Lord I need to get laid!
It certainly does not evince the kind of meticulous work one would expect from a qualified nominee to an appellate court.
Yea right- remembering a filing deadline is meticulous work- My deceased mother could do that .. Don't kid yourself- most law is tedious bullshit I could have done in High School.
I meant the dearth of facts in his declaration in support of relief from default in an $8.3M appeal.
Most of us would have pulled out the stops at that point.
Not being on the list doesn't mean opposed, necessarily. He was not on the Warner-Webb list but last year he was on the Warner-Allen list. He made the cut with a Rep - Rep senate, but not a Rep-Dem senate. I don't know what that means, but I just wanted to say it.
5:58,
do some reading and research. warner and webb are both displeased with the nomination and have said so publicly.
I meant the dearth of facts in his declaration in support of relief from default in an $8.3M appeal.
Most of us would have pulled out the stops at that point.
What a self-important disconnected jerk-off!!! Pull out the stops? In explaining why you failed to file a piece of paper by an arbitrary deadline- yea thats heavy lifting- Pull out the stops! HAAAAA youre a tool...
This is just plain bullshit - stopping someone from getting appointed as a federal judge because of one procedural flaw in a 33 year career that may have been his fault. What's next? Stopping someone because they actually lost a case? What about stopping them because they actually settled a case rather than went to trial?
This is why appellate practice gives me heartburn. They're just waiting for any technical mistake to throw your case out. Trial practice is so much more forgiving.
My southern firm doesn't list birthplace, but Martindale does. I think some firms pattern their web bios after their Martindale bios.
this was a partisan drive by, nothing more, nothing less
"If he was the lead attorney, he had a couple of associates (at least) and maybe a secretary/calendaring department to track this kind of thing.
It's a bonehead mistake, but not one I'd hold him personally responsible for. The "lead attorney" shouldn't have to recheck every little thing done on a case."
Wrong. You get the label of lead attorney for the sole reason that when something goes wrong, it's your ass that gets burned. That's why they get paid more.