Legal Humour

The Lawyer's Old Shoes

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:00:00 PDT

Lawyer Bill Bone was acting for the plaintiff in a negligence case in Palm Beach, Florida. Bill B objected a couple of times during the course of the jury trial to defence counsel, Michael Robb’s shoes. The said shoes had holes in them and Robb made sure the jury saw the soles of his shoes. Bill Bone argued that the reason Robb flaunted his shabby footwear was to appear to the jury as being a humble and simple man and to garner the jury's sympathy. Robb in fact during the course of the trial made comments such as “I’m just

Legal Humour News - July 13, 2009

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:55:00 PDT

Odd or Amusing Legal Headlines from the Past Week (or Two):Note - No implied endorsement of, or affiliation with, any linked sites. We assume no responsibility for the content of such Web sites and your use of such Web sites is at your own risk.1 - See You In Court!Doctor gets $1,000 for mid-air consultationAir Canada has been ordered to pay a Montreal doctor $1,000 in compensation for having to perform medical duties during an international flight in 2006. That is less than the $3,058 initially sought by Dr. Henry Coopersmith, which he calculated as the equivalent of an executive-class

The Courts are Alive, with the Sound of...

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:10:00 PDT

Criminal lawyer supreme, Edward Greenspan, made interesting submissions to sentence recently on behalf of his client, media mogul Garth Drabinsky, who was found guilty of corporate fraud charges. As part of his presentation, Greenspan tendered letters from a who’s who of business and entertainment celebrities including actor Christopher Plummer. I wonder why Christopher Plummer? To me, Plummer means one thing and one thing only: The Sound of Music. Maybe Edward Greenspan figured Her Honour Justice Benotto would be as enthralled with that musical classic as most of us are and that a letter from Mr. Plummer would have Her Honour

Madoff and Kafka

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:00:00 PDT

The Bernard Madoff saga is finally over. At age 71 he got sentenced to 150 years in jail. Just how long is that? Well if you go back 150 years, we get to 1859. So if Madoff would have started his sentence then, he would have had to sweat it out right through the U.S. Civil War. That was a big 5 years. In only a mere 36 years after Lincoln’s 1865 assassination he would have lived through Queen Victoria’s death in 1901. Then things would have been dull in jail for the next 13 years until the start of

School House Justice

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:10:00 PDT

Mustafa Kadinci of Arac, Turkey beat up his wife. He was arrested and charged and came before a female judge. Her Honour must have been a former schoolteacher as she sentenced Mustafa to printing and distributing 1000 leaflets, reading, “I apologize to my wife for hitting her”.While creative and novel, I think this type of sentence could set an awkward precedent as other criminals may want a similar deal. It will certainly make plea bargaining more interesting.Can’t you just see a lawyer approaching the prosecutor and saying, “So my client robbed a bank. How about presenting joint submissions to the

Legal Humour News - June 29, 2009

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:40:00 PDT

Odd or Amusing Legal Headlines from the Past Week (or Two):Note - No implied endorsement of, or affiliation with, any linked sites. We assume no responsibility for the content of such Web sites and your use of such Web sites is at your own risk.1 - See You In Court!Mistaken pie-throwing case lands in top courtAll he wanted was an apology. Instead, activist Vancouver lawyer Cameron Ward has had a seven-year legal fight that is now going to the Supreme Court of Canada. He was arrested in August 2002, when Vancouver Police officers believed he was going to throw a

Money and More Money

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:55:00 PDT

This is as good a time as any to talk about money. Marcos Ribles of Buenos Aires likes money. He likes it so much he started printing it. He got charged with counterfeiting but the court found him not guilty. Apparently the bills were of such poor quality that the court noted that nobody could have been fooled by them. They found him not guilty by reason of “incompetence”. The court was definitely sending out a message there: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. The justices may as well have ordered Marcos to take a self

Buttocks, Bombs and Baby Jesus

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:30:00 PDT

Speaking of sex, a gentleman in West Palm Beach Florida is suing a strip joint called “Cheetah’s”. He alleges an exotic dancer, known as “Suki” kicked him in the head. The defendant is vigorously resisting the claim, alleging that Suki’s kick was in retaliation for the plaintiff slapping her on the buttocks. What else is new in our business? Yet another he says/she says case. Whatever happened I am certain this event was much more interesting than what the patrons originally came to see at Cheetah’s. Meanwhile, near St Petersburg, Russia (not Florida), a Russian an anti-submarine ship accidentally fired

Legal Humour News - June 8, 2009

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:25:00 PDT

Odd or Amusing Legal Headlines from the Past Week (or Two):Note - No implied endorsement of, or affiliation with, any linked sites. We assume no responsibility for the content of such Web sites and your use of such Web sites is at your own risk.1 - See You In Court!Krispy Kreme accused of clogging sewersOfficials in northern Virginia have sued Krispy Kreme, blaming the doughnut maker for clogging the sewers. Fairfax County says the company has damaged its sewer system by dumping yeast and grease from a plant in Lorton. County officials filed a lawsuit this month after the company

Metro Madness

Sun, 24 May 2009 11:50:00 PDT

Bela Kosoian, a coordinator of the Chess Federation of Canada, living in Montreal is not a happy camper. While riding an escalator at a Metro station (aka subway or underground) she was arrested by the police. She committed a very serious offence; she refused to hold onto the escalator’s handrail. Apparently there is a by-law in Montreal requiring users of Metro escalators to hold onto the handrail. Bela refused to do so claiming that the rubber handrails were laden with germs. As a former Montrealer, I know the Montreal police can be quite bravado. The arresting police officer says he