IN PRACTICE

Obiter

They Call Me Baby Driver

Justice Paul Wooten of the New York Supreme Court has ruled that a girl aged four and a half can be sued for negligence over the accident that caused an 87 year old Claire Menagh to be hit by her bike, suffer injuries and die.

 

 

 

Juliet Breitman and Jacob Kohn were racing their bikes in front of their apartment building in New York City under the supervision of their respective moms. Menagh’s  estate sued Juliet, Jacob, and their mothers for negligence  and Juliet’s lawyers argued that she was too young to be sued for negligence, but the Court disagreed. However, the jury has yet to rule that underage Juliet is liable for the injuries that caused the death of Mrs Menagh.

 
Facing Up to the Law


A matrimonial lawyer often takes on the dual role of lawyer and counselor as he or she guides their client through the legal process of a divorce, but it is not uncommon for the client’s soon- to-be ex-spouses to vent their frustration on opposing counsel.

 

Jordan Cooper, a happily-never-after ex-husband in Nevada, took to posting mean Facebook comments about his wife’s lawyer, Jonathan Goldsmith, and is now being sued for it. Cooper apparently even went so far as to have a relative Facebook befriend Goldsmith in order to gain access to his pictures and personal information. Goldsmith is suing for damages stemming from the defamatory comments.

 

Interestingly, Facebook has come to serve another purpose in divorce proceedings – as a source of evidence, with divorce lawyers now looking to Facebook for evidence of infidelity, lies, and other forms of photo or written evidence.

Pet Wills

Owners of pets in Massachusetts got the news they wanted when their Governor signed a piece of legislation that allows for pet trust law in the state.

 

The bill not only allows owners to take care of their pets in pet wills, but the bill would help the state out in terms of spending to try and keep pets in homes and out of shelters, according to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. That means that there are less abandoned pets in state facilities that need state funding.

The ABC of Law

is for arson, the firing of houses

B is for bigamy, too many spouses. 

C is for caveat emptor beware! 

D’s for defence which counsel prepare. 

E’s for extradition of chaps from abroad, 

F is for felony, forgery, fraud. 

G is for all the goodwill you will need, 

H is for heir, who will try to succeed, 

I’s for identity, plus the parade, 

J’s for the juries who never get paid.

K is for kin who are sought from afar, 

L is for lawyers, all sides of the bar. 

M’s the mandamus, for which we have waited, 

N is the nuisance as yet unabated. 

O is for oath on the old or the new, 

P is for paperwork, long overdue. 

Q is for question which counsel will ask, 

R’s the refresher he needs for his task. 

S is for sacrilege, stealing from churches, 

T is for title - a good one on purchase. 

U is for usage, the custom of trade, 

V is for view, which his Lordship has made. 

W’s for wife and for woolsack and wills, 

X is the sum of solicitors’ bills. 

Y is the number of years you will get. 

And Z is a crime that we do not know of yet.

 

J.P.C., Poetic Justice (London: Stevens & Sons Ltd, 1947), p 3.