# How tolerant are courts of typos in filings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2008, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tolerant-are-courts-of-typos-in-filings/475981 "2008-12-06T08:48:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tolerant-are-courts-of-typos-in-filings/475981/21 "2008-12-07T15:22:38Z")
Here is a case where a typographical error got a court’s judgment reversed. [http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:X1Ukk7O\_WL8J:caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/californiastatecases/b126199.doc+typographical+error+notice+due+process&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a](http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:X1Ukk7O_WL8J:caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/californiastatecases/b126199.doc+typographical+error+notice+due+process&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a) (arbitration award sent to attorney’s prior address delayed attorney’s receipt of notice; court had entered judgment on award; appellate court ruled lack of notice required vacation of judgment). ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tolerant-are-courts-of-typos-in-filings/475981/22 "2008-12-07T15:56:11Z")
To go back to the example in the OP where the party typed “privacy” instead of “piracy”, my experience has been that it’s not going to make an iota of difference. If I’m the lawyer responding to that, I have three choices: 1) I can respond to their argument as if the issue is privacy, and then the judge thinks I’m a jackass who is trying to be cute rather than get to the merits of the case; 2) I can argue piracy and put a little foot note point out the typo–“plaintiff’s brief says “privacy”…presumably this was in error.” This gets us back on track. 3) Ignore the error completely and just argue the real issue. I usually go for number two, because I like to take a polite little jab at their sloppiness. Also, even in cases where the error is in a party name or some other crucial aspect, it’s not uncommon to ignore it or work with the other side to correct it. Two common things are to appear in the case as "Joe’s Capital Management Inc d/b/a Joe’s Bar, incorrectly sued as “Joe’s Tavern”. Sure, I could argue that there is no such legal entity as Joe’s Tavern, but if I think the lawyer on the other side is competent and has enough time left under the statute of limitations to figure out the real party, I usually give him a call and tell him, “this is who you meant to sue. I’ll appear, but please amend your complaint to get the right party.” Finally, I didn’t see any mention of nunc pro tunc orders. Sometimes when the parties catch a mistake late in the process that was minor in nature, the court will issue an order retroactively correcting the mistake all the way back to the beginning. The bottom line is that court’s generally want to resolve disputes on the merits, not on technicalities and certainly not on typos or other minor errors. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tolerant-are-courts-of-typos-in-filings/475981/23 "2008-12-07T16:09:30Z")
> [@TheFifthYear](#): > > I usually go for number two, because I like to take a polite little jab at their sloppiness. I used to do this more frequently. “Fisher says ‘Simpson’s Fnord [sic] Bronco ran the red light.’ All of the witnesses disagree with him.” I’ve found that Gaudere’s law applies to legal writing, just as it does online. 😉 Now I usually resist the temptation unless I need to point it ou the error to make sense of my own point. This is more common when the typo is in a statute or court order instead of a pleading or motion. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tolerant-are-courts-of-typos-in-filings/475981/24 "2008-12-07T16:16:45Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > Addresses are crucial; one-off names, less so. If you get the wrong address, the sherriff shows up at the wrong house. That’s huge. If the sherriff shows up at 1234 Main Street where Mr. Smith lives, and thinks he’s evicting Mr. Smoth, the right property still winds up vacant, and the right person’s belongings are on t he curb. He’s just out there whining that he’s not Mr. Smoth, so he should be able to stay until his landlord learns to spell. 😉 In many jurisdictions, it is common to file evictions against Mr. Smith (who signed the lease) and all other occupants–or something like that. The all other occupants part is included in case there are other folks living there, but also adds a layer of protection against typos in the name and the tenant’s use of aliases. I don’t agree, if there are multiple parties residing at the address and the order does not specify all parties then a misspelled name is fatal. An order to evict person XX is not valid against person XY but that is different than an order to evict all persons from property X. In one case the name is critical in the other it is not. I don’t know why you had to add your nitpick with additional facts anymore than I know why I felt compelled to point it out… ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tolerant-are-courts-of-typos-in-filings/475981/25 "2008-12-07T16:23:05Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > I used to do this more frequently. “Fisher says ‘Simpson’s Fnord [sic] Bronco ran the red light.’ All of the witnesses disagree with him.” > > I’ve found that Gaudere’s law applies to legal writing, just as it does online. 😉 Now I usually resist the temptation unless I need to point it ou the error to make sense of my own point. This is more common when the typo is in a statute or court order instead of a pleading or motion. Too true. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tolerant-are-courts-of-typos-in-filings/475981/26 "2008-12-07T16:29:25Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > hajiro, I find nothing wrong with the practices you mention. Party names and correct street address are crucial in eviction actions. If a court issues an order for Mr. Snith to vacate a house on Elm Street do you suggest that Mr. Smith on Elm Drive should have to leave his house? My problem with that particular practice was twofold. First of all, Mr. Smith wasn’t paying his fucking rent. Why should the property owners have to let him live there for free for another week when the end result would be exactly the same? If the order had a real ambiguity instead of an obvious typo, I would be more understanding. It was clogging the Courts with bullshit which cost everyone who pays taxes money. In reality, the jackass who screwed up the form (or their employer) should be liable for the lost revenue but that doesn’t really change things. Secondly, anyone could have gotten one of those forms and filed it at the courthouse for free. My short time employer was preying on people who didn’t have very much money and charging a premium for a lame service. I acknowledge that if not for our service, they wouldn’t know about that technique and what we charged was less than the cost of a week’s rent. The whole thing just seemed very shady to me and, as I recall, the way that they were running that business was made illegal in California a few years later anyway. They were the first in my area but eventually tons of companies like them, who were all affiliated with law offices, were popping up all over. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tolerant-are-courts-of-typos-in-filings/475981/27 "2008-12-07T17:43:38Z")
In England and Wales the Civil Procedure Rules 1999, allow the court to rectify small mistakes such as these. Damn spoilsports However the names can be a problem; especially when a company is involved. Its not unknown for their to be a case thrown out because someone forgot to write “limited” after the partys name. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tolerant-are-courts-of-typos-in-filings/475981/28 "2008-12-07T18:00:16Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > I don’t agree, if there are multiple parties residing at the address and the order does not specify all parties then a misspelled name is fatal. An order to evict person XX is not valid against person XY but that is different than an order to evict all persons from property X. Do you have a citation for this proposition? I’ve done dozens of evictions, and it is inconsistent with my experience. I also looked up some cases. Here is what I found: _Rodrigues v. Beverly Villanueva_, 1998 Conn. Super. LEXIS 760 (misspelling of tenant’s name in notice to quit did not deprive court of subject matter jurisdiction, even though misdescription of property would have) > [@](#): > > The term idem sonans means sounding the same. State v.Culbertson , 6 N.C. App. 327, 329, 170 S.E.2d 125, 127 (1969). Under therule of idem sonans, absolute accuracy in spelling names in legal proceedings,even in felony indictments, is not required. State v. Staley , 71 N.C.App. 286, 287, 321 S.E.2d 551, 552 (1984). Names are used to identify peopleand if the spelling used, though inaccurate, fairly identifies the right personand the defendant is not misled to his prejudice, he has no complaint. Id. In State v. Isom , 65 N.C. App. 223, 309 S.E.2d 283 (1983),this Court held that the names “Eldred,” “Elred,” and “Elton” were sufficientlysimilar to fall within the doctrine of idem sonans and that the variancebetween the indictment and the proof at trial was wholly immaterial. [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=nc&vol=appeals99/appeals1102/&invol=wilson](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=nc&vol=appeals99/appeals1102/&invol=wilson) Could one buy some time by showing up in court and pointing out the misspelling? Maybe. When I was at Legal Aid we stalled evictions with crazier arguments than that. Might the tenant convince the court officer or sheriff who shows up with the writ of possession that he’s not the the person to whom the writ applies? Sure. Could a misspelling be so bad that idem sonans doesn’t apply? Yep. See Laflin v. Drake, 218 Ark. 218; 237 S.W.2d 32; 1951 Ark. LEXIS 312 (Ark. 1951) (“There can be no contention that the names – U. L. Thacker and R. E. Johnson – are similar. “Stith” and “Smith” might cause an honest doubt, but idem sonans can hardly be thought of as a rule sufficiently pliable to reach Thacker when “h” is the only letter in Johnson common to the two names and phonetics affords no aid.”) Might some courts be more strict about this than others? Surely. Is a misspelling fatal? I’m going to need to see some cites on that. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tolerant-are-courts-of-typos-in-filings/475981/29 "2008-12-07T18:05:35Z")
Administrative courts are generally pretty tolerant, at least in Florida. At the judge’s discretion, they’ll either ignore the typo or a judicial assistant will send back your motion, pretrial filing, notice or whatever with a memo of varying civility telling you to do it over. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tolerant-are-courts-of-typos-in-filings/475981/30 "2008-12-07T18:24:48Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Administrative courts are generally pretty tolerant, at least in Florida. At the judge’s discretion, they’ll either ignore the typo or a judicial assistant will send back your motion, pretrial filing, notice or whatever with a memo of varying civility telling you to do it over. I’ve got a bunch of administrative appeals pending right now with the office of contract appeals of a federal agency. The agency brought in an attorney just to try to get my appeals knocked out–a gunner. He came in guns ablazing. . . . and filed total crap. His first motions sought dismissal of the appeals because my briefs were late. I pointed out that I’d received orders extending time for filing my briefs from the administrative judge and that the agency had been permitted to file a brief eight months late over my objection; I concluded, “we hope the Secretary’s new counsel will show more care with the facts in future submissions.” Shamed, he then filed “Motions to Withdraw” his first motions. Unfortunately, those were riddled with typos and all had the wrong case numbers on them. He got a snarky letter from the clerk rejecting his filings and outlining his mistakes. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tolerant-are-courts-of-typos-in-filings/475981.md?page=1)