Oh, the horror! 🤣 After the parties were not cooperating on issues, an Alabama judge ordered the opposing lawyers to have lunch together.
As reported in AL.com, in a filing issued two days before Thanksgiving, Northern Alabama District Court Judge David Proctor ordered legal teams representing Koch Foods of Alabama LLC and former Koch Foods employee Pamela McCullers to go to lunch together on or before Dec. 31.
This order came after McCullers, who is suing Koch Foods on claims of sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, and discrimination on the basis of sex, among other things, said she would only agree to the defendants’ request for an extension on their pleading deadline if they did not file a motion to dismiss her complaint in the future.
In his 2-page order (posted to X by Florida lawyer Matt Margolis), Proctor wrote that these conditions were “wholly inappropriate.”
“There is generally no good reason that an extension such as this should be opposed, let alone denied,” he wrote.
“The Golden Rule—do unto others as you would have them do unto you—is not just a good rule of thumb for everyday life. It is a critical component of legal professionalism.”
“Sadly, in recent years compliance with the rule is becoming rarer and rarer in the litigation arena. It is time to reverse that trend, even if it is only in this case.”
Proctor went on to say that this move was not in the spirit of the season.
“Here, Plaintiff’s counsel’s conditioning of any agreement to an extension was wholly inappropriate, particularly in light of the looming Thanksgiving holiday,” he wrote.
The order went on to mandate that counsel for both the plaintiff and the defendants are to go to lunch together on or before Dec. 31, 2024.
“Plaintiff’s counsel will pay the bill; Defendants’ counsel will leave the tip,” the order reads.
“The parties will discuss how they can act professionally throughout the rest of this case. Within ten (10) days of the lunch, the parties SHALL file a joint report describing the conversation that occurred at lunch and the amount of the tip.” 😁
Now, the question is: what will they eat? Alabama does have delicious shrimp. “You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. There’s, uh, shrimp kebabs, shrimp Creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich.” At least, that’s what I’ve heard! 🤣
Hat tip to Evan Benjamin for the heads up on the story!
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