When you are an Oklahoma law blogger, you are almost obligated to blog about it when something silly happens in the Texas legal system.

According to this story in the Austin Statesman, when it was time for the ceremony to break ground for the new $100 million dollar federal courthouse in Austin, one of the ground breakers apparently wasn't on the official invitation list. But 31-year-old George Lobb showed up and managed to break ground along with all of the federal judges, Congressmen and other officials. He even posed with all of the invited dignitaries for the official photo and reportedly left with an official gold shovel. (Officers are said to have retrieved that.)

This reminds me when, in the pre 9/11 days, I realized as a young lawyer that a nice suit, a briefcase or armload of files, a confident air and a brisk pace could get you about anywhere in any government building. Hopefully everyone will ultimately see the humor in this and Mr. Lobb will have a great story to tell in the courthouse snackbar for years to come.