Attorney submitted brief with made-up case law, 9th Circuit says

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a request to send a matter back to the lower court filed by a Torrance attorney who the court noted in its opinion had filed an opening brief chockfull of “misrepresentations and fabricated case law.”

That attorney, Angela R. Swan of The Law Offices of Angela Swan in Torrance, did not respond to a request for comment. The seven-page opinion, written by Circuit Judge Roopali H. Desai, lambasted the attorney for citing cases which don’t appear to exist and citing others which don’t have relevance to the issue at hand. Larry Grant v. City of Long Beach, 2:21-CV-06666, (C.D. Cal., filed Aug. 17, 2021)

“The brief included only a handful of accurate citations, almost all of which were of little use to this Court because they were not accompanied by coherent explanations of how they supported appellants’ claims,” Desai wrote. “No reply brief was filed. The deficiencies violated the federal rule of appellate procedure. The panel was, therefore, compelled to strike appellants’ brief and dismiss the appeal.”

Desai added that the court requires parties to present reliable and understandable support for their claims so they may be fairly considered during their appeal.

The case before the 9th Circuit involved a dispute between a California man and a Georgia woman over the living situation of their daughter, and whether the police had permission to enter a home in Long Beach for a welfare check.

Long Beach Deputy City Attorney Matthew M. Peters, who argued the case before the panel for the city said, “We appreciate the time and attention given to this case by the District Court and the 9th Circuit. We are pleased that the judgment in the City’s favor remains in effect, and that the case is over.”