Robert Keith Prater

About Robert Keith Prater

Throughout the past 27 years, I have come to understand a fundamental principle: Judges generally prefer not to receive documents that feature highlighted passages and handwritten notes beside the sections that a party deems crucial and wishes to ensure the Judge does not overlook. This approach can be likened to urging a Judge to become a participant in Socrates' parable of the blind men and the elephant, rather than maintaining their role as a neutral arbiter. Presenting a case should not be a narrowly focused endeavor in selective and highlighted fact presentation.

The allegory of the Blind Men and the Elephant illustrates the potential pitfalls of such selective reasoning, highlighting the errors it can introduce. In legal proceedings, it emphasizes the limitations of the Socratic method when all material facts are not presented to the fact-finder. It's essential to remember that the Judge presides over their court, and no one else has the right to emphasize specific passages in a document. If you believe you possess a document or image that is of utmost significance, I recommend making several copies of it. If you feel the need to emphasize a particular point, write on one of the copies and provide that "marked" copy to your lawyer, along with a pristine version for the Court. Your lawyer can then present the unmarked document to the Judge and request their attention to the highlighted passage in your "marked" copy.

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