Courts

Calling Out A Judge Using Your Firm's Letterhead Doesn't Really Help Out Its Reputation

What a dumb way to get fired.

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Minding your manners when addressing a judge is something you’d expect of most people, but lawyers should be especially attuned. Should. Ben Aderholt decided to give a judge a piece of his mind. The judge found Aderholt’s letter to be “threatening and harassing” — and his former firm responded by giving him the boot. From Law.com:

[Judge Erica Hughes] was shocked by the letter from Ben Aderholt that was sent on the Coats Rose letterhead, and which began by addressing her by her first name.

The letter immediately asked Hughes, “Who do you think you are?” and Hughes said the tone got progressively worse. Hughes told Fox 26 that she was particularly offended by a line equating her with “political animals who treat our judiciary as political games.”

Coats Rose, as one would expect, promptly fired Ben. It shouldn’t take an advanced degree to know that if you’re going to shit talk someone who your firm will likely have to work with 1) address them by their full name and 2) use a damned burner email. Think about your digital footprint, folks! If a dumb and potentially sarcastic joke on LinkedIn can get you 15 minutes of shame, what do you think will happen once it gets out that you were bad talking a judge using your firm’s header?

There was the usual damage control — Aderholt clarified that his words were his own and not those of the firm. He also apologized to Hughes with a handwritten letter. Hopefully he learned his lesson and used more than just her first name.

Attacking a Judge: Coats Rose Attorney Fired [Law.com]

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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