This… has to sting. This is basically your childhood nightmare of taking a test naked and unprepared except the lawyer version — oh, and it’s as real as a heart attack.
Poor Chad Hatfield. The litigator had multiple cases to argue in front on the Ninth Circuit this month, and on June 7th he argued the first. During the argument, he was talking about fibromyalgia symptoms when it was clear something was wrong. See, the instant case was about diabetes, manic-depressive disorder, and social phobia.
As one of the panel said, “Check to make sure you’ve got the right case in front of you.”
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Folks, he did not. As he quite obviously noted, “I have them flip-flopped.”
In response, the panel graciously granted Hatfield a 10-minute break to regroup, after which he was able to deliver the *correct* argument.
You can check out the video of the snafu below — right at the 5:10 mark is where the awkwardness sets in.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).