I'm a brand spankin new legal assistant in the Commonwealth of Virginia... and I'm afraid I've passed the gate of no return. I mailed to the court clerk yesterday a warrant in debt for small claims that the attorney signed and dated two days previously; this means apparently that on the 2nd page the warrant has the attorney's signature claiming the defendant was served 3 days ago, when in fact he was not. I had simply filled out the warrant as the more senior assistants instructed, and gathered documents I would have to submit with it. I was told the county sheriff would serve the defendants once the warrant was filed. Understanding this, I had NO idea the date the warrant was signed was the date the defendants had to be notified until a co worker told me this morning, mentioning that if the dates don't match up, the attorney is in big trouble (Which doesn't totally make sense when you consider the sheriff thing, but I digress.) I mailed the warrant with other paperwork to the court clerk yesterday and it should arrive there by the end of the week, all with this incorrect information on it.
What on earth do I do? Can anything be done? I've mailed this to the court clerk with their name on it. I'm terrified the attorney will face some sort of penalty or our client will lose their case - haven't cases been thrown out over less than this? I'm a trainee who's been at this job for a couple of weeks and I'm almost certain my days are numbered.

Try contacting the Clerk of Court and see if you can file a Scrivener's Error Pleading correcting the original pleading. Or ask them if you can file an Amended Pleading. Call them now.

The Attorney should have known better - and, yes, this is a big mistake. Do as Twinkie suggested. I see no other way.

Also, as for being a legal assistant it is your responsibility to read the entire pleading before presenting it to the attorney for his signature. That's part of your job, honey. But then, they don't teach real world stuff much in legal assistant school or paralegal school either. It's just common sense and paying attention to the small details. You need to remember this is not some restaurant where they can just redo the meal if the steak is burnt, etc. This is a legal document that has many ramifications attached to it and it must be done correctly the first time.

Very very rarely have I ever entered a Scriverner's Error Motion. I can only remember doing this once and it was the boss' fault, not mine.

You must pay more attention to the little details in pleadings regardless of how long ago they were prepared.

I worked for a collection attorney who did a zillion pleadings/filings a week that was nothing more than fill in the blank boiler plate stuff. And there could be lots of errors made if I didn't pay attention to what I was doing.

Good luck in your new job!

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Originally Posted by saintblue

... the warrant has the attorney's signature claiming the defendant was served 3 days ago, when in fact he was not. ... if the dates don't match up, the attorney is in big trouble ...

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If the attorney was required to attest to the correct date he should have personally checked the facts. If it were merely a clerical task for a legal assistant it seems that the legal assistant could sign it. All of which doesn't help you, but it makes one wonder at the stupidity of attorneys who don't properly train their staffs.

As others have suggested, some sort of corrective paperwork should fix it with out problems, assuming the warrant hasn't been served.