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Judge Orders Lawyer to Have English Teacher Review Work

Legal complaint filed in Florida was incomprehensible
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 15, 2018 1:53 PM CST
Judge Orders Lawyer to Have English Teacher Review Work
   (Getty/IcemanJ)

Judges reject legal filings for all kinds of reasons, but one spotted by the Above the Law blog is downright embarrassing. Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga of the Southern District of Florida agreed with opposing attorneys that a complaint filed on behalf of a housekeeping employee suing a hospital was just plain incomprehensible. Legalese wasn't the problem, however. The judge cited "nonsensical sentences," sentence fragments, grammatical errors, spelling errors, punctuation errors, etc.

Altonaga gave Jay Romano of the Discrimination Law Center a chance to submit a new complaint, with a unique stipulation. He must "certif[y] the pleading has been reviewed and approved by a teacher of the English language—such certification is to be included in the notice of filing the second amended complaint." The judge also warned that she would refer Romano to the Florida Bar if he submitted something like the original again. (More judge stories.)

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