3d DCA Watch -- Post Turkey Day Edition!

Welcome back!

I hope everyone watched football, got soused, gorged on roast beast, fought with their relatives, and then immediately headed to Wal-Mart where they got in a shooting match over a parking space.

Isn't that the true meaning of Thanksgiving?

Meanwhile the wheels of justice grind on, and we dutifully bring you this belated 3d DCA Watch featuring a case that, if the Court adopted the appellant's position, would "shake the foundation of the Rules of Appellate Procedure."

Castelo Dev. v. Rawls:

Note to counsel not a party who happens to be monitoring a hearing:  shut up.

From the record before us, it appears counsel for Mortgage Bankers first appeared below at a hearing on Castelo’s motion for reconsideration of the order vacating the foreclosure sale. At the outset of the hearing, counsel for Mortgage Bankers identified himself, but stated he was “not appearing as part of this litigation.” However, unable to contain himself, counsel took the bait from Castelo’s counsel, who, near the end of the hour-and-ten-minute-long hearing, asked the court to give Mortgage Bankers’ counsel “two minutes.” Counsel then jumped directly into the fray. We believe this act comprised an abandonment of any prior position he had articulated and constituted a general appearance by Mortgage Bankers.

Judge Shepherd's opinion brings to mind the old adage:  Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.

And how was your extended weekend?