This lesson was brought home to me so many years ago that I forget what the facts were in that case. But the lesson remains.

I was discussing Muncy, Ertelt and Banister yesterday. See my blogpost “Play It Now, Play It Now, Play It Now,” 5/19/17. I thought Ninth Cir gave Banister a real quick brush-off.

I hadn’t read or blogged Judge Cohen’s opinion, Joseph R. Banister, 2015 T. C. Memo. 10, filed 1/12/15, the opinion Ninth Cir affirmed so tersely. Her discussion about reforming extensions of SOL of even date therewith (as my expensive colleagues would say) was more interesting than Joe’s multiplex misdeeds. See my blogpost “Reformation Symphony,” 1/12/15.

Turns out Joe was an all-round bad dude and top-class rounder. I won’t repeat what Judge Cohen had to say. If I had been on Ninth Cir at the time, Joe would not have fared as well as he did.

Now Leroy Muncy wasn’t in Joe’s league, so maybe he caught a break. Or maybe litigants are somewhat more douce out on the Great Plains than in LaLa Land.

But I suggest we all, bloggers, litigants, attorneys, USTCPs, and even Judges, must “with a joyful mind, bear through life like a torch in flame” the simple rule: The facts are everything.