Okay, the title here s a little tongue in cheek, because actually this is a great story. In it, a judge acts like an actual understanding human being. It’s the perfect antidote for awful sh*t like this.

Anyway, it’s a pretty straightforward. Utah lawyer Brian King, who is also minority leader of the Utah House of Representatives, was all set to turn in his brief at midnight on April 25th. Then he took a little break to watch Game 5 of the playoff series where the Jazz played the Thunder. Big mistake. Huge.

See, the Jazz were up 25 point in the third quarter, but somehow let victory slip through their fingers. King’s resulting funk caused him to miss the filing deadline. By 18 minutes.

D’oh.

So King did what any self-respecting lawyer would do, and requested an extension, saying:

Foreseeable, but unwished for, circumstances, together with unforeseen emotional impact from those circumstances, constitute good cause for this motion.

King made a pretty compelling argument why his filing was 18 minutes late:

Until this point, prospects for the timely submission of the opposition memo were excellent. But the emotional effect of an eventual Jazz loss (which began at approximately 10 p.m.) was, to say the least, dispiriting. The pallor cast on counsel’s mind eventually led to submission of a written product that was twice as long and half as strong as it would have been had the Jazz emerged victorious. As well as 18 minutes tardy.

And opposing counsel, from Dorsey & Whitney, also seems like a solid guy:

Although from Minneapolis, defense counsel does not object to this Motion. For purposes of this playoff series, he’s a Jazz fan, too.

Read the adorable motion, which U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins granted, below.

Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).