Telecommuting continues, at least for a while, in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Remote video calls or conferences have brought workplaces into the home and with them some technological tricks have also come, as happened with a lawyer from Texas (United States).
Rod Ponton accidentally left a cat filter on during a video conference with a judge. When the judge, Roy Ferguson, saw a wide-eyed white cat face on the screen, he commented, “I think you’ve enabled a filter in the video settings and you might want to turn it off.” Ponton, unable to figure out how to deactivate the filter, just wanted to say, “I’m live here, I’m not a cat.” The video, shared on Twitter by journalist Lawrence Hurley, has received more than 198,000 likes and has been retweeted over 56,000 times in the first seven hours of publication.
The truth is, anyone can get a computer lip. Ponton insured in an interview with Vice News that he was using his assistant’s computer that had that filter activated. ‘I took it off and replaced it with my face. It was a case where a man tried to leave the United States with contraband and money. It was all a mistake. They took it from me and we had the hearing normally, ”says the lawyer. Judge Ferguson later substantiated this anecdote.
These fun times are a by-product of the legal profession’s dedication to ensuring that the legal system continues to function in these difficult times. Everyone involved handled it with dignity, and the filtered attorney showed incredible grace. Real professionalism all around!
– Judge Roy Ferguson (@JudgeFergusonTX) February 9, 2021
“These hilarious moments are a by-product of the legal profession’s dedication to ensuring that the legal system continues to function in these troubled times.
There seems to be a strange relationship between lawyers and embarrassing moments at video conferences. Last year, a Mexican lawyer was surprised when his camera moved. “Lawyer, you’re not wearing pants, you’re in court,” a judge heard during a work session shared thousands of times in July this year.
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