A lawyer from Texas has gone viral after he was unable to turn off a cat filter during a virtual court case.
According to NBC News, the incident in question occurred during a Zoom conference call for the 394th Judicial District Court of Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, and Presidio Counties in Texas.
Take a look at the hilarious video of the incident below:During a live stream of court proceedings, on Tuesday, February 9, Judge Roy Ferguson presided over a meeting between himself and attorneys Jerry L. Philips, H. Gibbs Bauer, and Rod Ponton.
However, things took a turn for the bizarre when Ponton appeared on the call as a gigantic white kitten due to a filter installed on the Zoom app. The kitten version of Ponton then awkwardly conversed with the other callers, sounding visibly flustered – at one point even stating: "I'm not a cat."
Despite being given instructions from Judge Ferguson, the lawyer struggled to turn off the filter.
Judge Ferguson later shared a clip of the mishap on Twitter, and captioned the footage:
"IMPORTANT ZOOM TIP: If a child used your computer, before you join a virtual hearing check the Zoom Video Options to be sure filters are off.
"This kitten just made a formal announcement on a case in the 394th [sic]."
Footage of the hilarious live stream was later shared on the official YouTube channel of the 394th Judicial District Court, where it quickly went viral, accruing over 2.7 million views and 1,500 comments as of the time of writing.
For instance, in the comments, one person wrote: "Dude was prepared to argue his case as a kitten. If that's not a legal professional I don't know what is."
Another person commented: "Two and a half centuries of American jurisprudence culminated in this moment."
A third wrote: "The guy in the white beard looks up, smiles and chuckles after hearing 'I'm not a cat.'"
A fourth added: "The sad sad cat eyes looking down when he says 'I'm not a cat' just made tears run down my eyes!"
Meanwhile, someone else wrote: "...meanwhile, his client watching at home, thinking: 'I'm absolutely paying his bill with cat food."
Another person chimed in: "Crying from laughter. But props to the poor lawyer who was ready to go no matter what."
Another person stated: "Has there ever been anything better on the internet? The answer is emphatically no. And I'm not a cat saying this, I promise. Meow. Excuse me, that's how I sneeze.
Commenting on the incident per NBC, the judge stated: "These fun moments are a by-product of the legal profession's dedication to ensuring that the justice system continues to function in these tough times.
"Everyone involved handled it with dignity, and the filtered lawyer showed incredible grace. True professionalism all around!"
Meanwhile, Ponton himself stated: "If I could make everyone laugh at my expense I'm happy to do that. It's an example of what can happen in our computer connected world."
