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I assume you’ve already discussed with your team. I would focus on fixing things if I can. That means filing a short letter to the court noting the typo and requesting permission to re-file (indicating the change you want to make). Sooner is better if oral argument has already been scheduled. Opposing counsel may request to change their reply as a result. The embarrassment and shame will pass. Chin up!
File an errata or clear it up in your reply in support/address at oral argument. This stuff doesn’t matter as much as you think.
I was just coming here to say this. We have all made typos, we are only human. No need to hide and cry in the bathroom.
If it changes the meaning of something important enough and it’s not otherwise obvious what you meant to say, I might consider a stip or request to file an errata. You’ll also likely have a chance to clear things up at oral argument. If there’s a partner or someone senior to you on the matter, it’s worth telling them how bad you feel and asking for their advice about what to do given the specific circumstances.
Whatever you do, do the best you can to move forward. Take it as a learning experience or lesson learned the hard way — you’ll probably never make that mistake again! — and do the best you can going forward. You’ll be fine, really
I defer to the litigators re the substantive/litigation-related action items. But also - give yourself some grace. It was a mistake. Own it and learn from it. Then move on. One mistake, even if public, even if a big deal, does NOT define you.
this is fixable. And correctable. Echo everyone here
You’re cooked.
Kidding. Get out in front of it and own the mistake. You can easily correct as indicated above. You won’t make the same mistake again next time.
Just file an errata. You will be fine.
I’ve been brief writing for years and was a federal law clerk for two before that. It’s not a big deal. Everyone makes typos, including the judiciary. There’d be more judgment for a ton of typos that didn’t matter than there’d be for one that was substantive. The former shows a lack of care, which is more problematic than a missed typo. And it’s a bad look for the other side to be mocking you over this.
As a long time practitioner, i have made enough of these. The way i always dealt with errors is to have a colleague deal with it. I still own the error but i ask someone who is not flustered by the error to find the solution. In this case, you should immediately let the partner know what happened, propose a solution ( probably file a paper with the court), and let the partner be the judge of the best course of action. Errors are often fixable but hiding them will almost always make it worse. Don’t worry about the consequences for now and deal with the error. That is what i would do.
Rising Star
OC mocking you in their response isn’t as big a deal as you might think. If anything it may help.
You get only a few limited pages to make your argument, and you’re wasting lines over a very apparent typo??
Own it. It was a typo. You missed it but caught it quickly and sent the correction. The move along. If you aren’t screwing up now and then (but learning along the way), then you aren’t growing. Totally fine. In the meantime sip some Friday night wine.
Why not write a letter to the judge/Court pointing out your typo and what was suppose to be there? We had to do that one time. For us, it worked luckily. Opposing council wasn’t nice about it but the judge/court approved it with a warning. So we were just lucky really lucky I guess.