The wheels of justice, they say, turn slowly. The fact that they say this does not, however, in any way assuage clients, though it does seem to relax certain judges even more than they, unfortunately, are already relaxed regarding the motions, applications and other prayers gathering dust before them.
On the other hand — this is ridiculous.
UPDATE: Can’t blame the PTO for this one, entirely. Check out this update from John Welch:
With respect to the “administrative closing,” this “closing” occurred during a meeting with the parties’ attorneys in the chambers of Judge John Hargrove (deceased) on June 8, 1984 (Exhibit A) [not attached – ed.] during which Judge Hargrove announced that the case was “administratively closed” and that he was obtaining all files from the clerk’s office and would lock the files in his closet. A search so far of our files revealed no further communication from Judge Hargrove regarding this case.
That’s right: “he was obtaining all files from the clerk’s office and would lock the files in his closet.” It’s good to be the king! It has a happy ending, though:
This administrative closing, a concept unfamiliar to the undersigned attorneys and other attorneys with whom they have consulted, has given the parties sufficient time to settle their grievances and to develop a spirit of cooperation, as well as actual cooperation.
They didn’t quite say “love,” but that’s what I’m hearing. So it’s just as well that stuff stayed in the closet, I guess.
