Attorney Rod Ponton may have given off an appearance of being feline during a virtual court hearing, but that wasn’t really what was going on. Instead, this 69-year-old Texas lawyer made headlines after becoming stuck in an endless cycle with Zoom filter that transformed him into an adorable feline form.
Judge Roy Ferguson posted the video to encourage viewers to check their zoom settings before attending hearings and provide a critical lesson: never, ever use the kitten filter!
Cat Filter
Texas attorney Rod Ponton made headlines this week after appearing as a cat during a Zoom video call. Ponton, representing Presidio County in San Antonio, won over audiences of feline lovers as he struggled to remove a filter which displayed cat images instead of his face on video call. This hilarious mishap was captured and widely shared online.
Filters have proven themselves a perfect way to embarrass video-call users who make gaffes on video calls. A boxer, wizard and wolf have all fallen prey to these forms of digital humiliation.
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Video Conferencing App
As part of their response to the coronavirus pandemic, schools and businesses turned to video conference apps like Zoom to conduct business. But Rod Ponton found this week that using the app can have unexpected repercussions; his 42-second clip went viral when one of Zoom’s filters changed him into a gray tabby kitten! While Ponton looked comical at first, his grace as a lawyer shone through; not many viral legal clips can say the same about them! Not the first filtered lawyer to go viral though– it likely won’t be one of many!
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law. With more than 10 years of experience in legal work and an eye for making people laugh, Staci’s specialty lies in providing the legal industry with humorous stories and articles.
Coronavirus
Coronavirus refers to crown virus, and there are seven known coronaviruses. Some come from animals; it’s possible for humans to contract them as well; usually exposure can happen through air for 30-plus minutes from someone with one, such as their breath or touch. Human-derived coronaviruses may lead to more serious conditions, including pneumonia or bronchitis in people with compromised immune systems.
Rod Ponton entered a Zoom call for his civil forfeiture case in Texas feeling “feline-fine”, however his daughter had previously used the device and accidentally turned on a cat filter, prompting Rod to try turning it off but ultimately fail. What resulted was an instant internet classic which brought laughter at a time when many others are feeling stressed out or anxious.
Judge Roy Ferguson
Judge Roy Ferguson brings an unparalleled perspective to judging and the challenges it entails for society at large. His humorous yet instructive social media posts regularly educate and uplift audiences while at the same time inspiring lawyers and judges from around the country who attend his conferences around the country.
He currently heads up Texas’s 394th District Court, covering an enormous 20,000-square mile area and more than 20% of the US-Mexican border. As part of his duties he often hosts educational presentations on subjects including family law, juvenile welfare law, legal ethics and judicial ethics; case administration techniques; self-represented litigant advocacy strategies as well as virtual advocacy.
Judge Ferguson has proven himself an innovative and productive member of the judiciary since COVID-19 barred most lawyers from attending physical courtroom hearings. He restructured his civil docket, established an effective method for disposing cases in strict timelines, and created a process to expedite pro se divorce cases more swiftly.