Free Order - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:04-cv-01067-MSK-CBS

Document 128

Filed 06/13/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Judge Robert E. Blackburn Civil Case No. 04-cv-01067-REB-CBS WILLIAM R. CADORNA, Plaintiff, v. THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER, COLORADO, a municipal corporation, Defendants. MINUTE ORDER1

The court is in receipt of two e-mails from plaintiff's counsel. Plaintiff's counsel originally e-mailed the court a "courtesy copy" of his Motion to Disqualify the Denver City Attorney's Office [#124], filed June 10, 2006. When plaintiff's counsel was informed that such documents were not required to be e-mailed to chambers, a second e-mail followed. Because it appears that plaintiff's counsel did not copy opposing counsel when he sent the e-mails, these communications could well be construed as unethical ex parte communications with the court. Thus, I DIRECT my Administrative Assistant to provide defendant's counsel with a copy of these e-mails forthwith . Substantively, plaintiff's counsel's requests for assistance in preparing his exhibits for trial, having audio/visual equipment available, and using the court's ELMO system implicate matters that are addressed clearly and at length by my Civil Practice Standards. I would hope that plaintiff's counsel, as a graduate of Stanford Law School with 22 years experience, at least would be aware that United States District Courts in general often have such published standards. More to the point, unless plaintiff's counsel has not read the Second Trial Preparation Conference Order [#36], filed January 3, 2005, he should know that this court does, in fact, have practice standards, since that order refers to the court's practice standards four separate times. Therefore, counsel should not expect a response to the substantive queries of his latest e-mails.

This m inute order is issued pursuant to the express authority of the Honorable Robert E. Blackburn, United States District Judge for the District of Colorado.

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Case 1:04-cv-01067-MSK-CBS

Document 128

Filed 06/13/2006

Page 2 of 2

Moreover, I take great exception to the condescending tone of plaintiff's counsel's communication with my chambers staff. The insertion of "smiley" emoticons notwithstanding, counsel's suggestion that the important administrative work of this court is too mundane to have been the subject of study among the upper echelons of top ten law school graduates such as himself is plainly insulting. Although I am familiar enough with plaintiff's counsel's writing style to recognize that he has a penchant for written hyperbole, he is cautioned that I expect and require counsel to treat the members of my staff with the utmost respect at all times. Dated: June 13, 2006 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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