In the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, there was a problem with motorists parking their luxury cars on bike lanes instead of legal parking lots. Instead of rating these vehicles or having them towed, the mayor of Vilnius had another idea. In an attempt to set an example, the mayor drove an armored tank onto a Mercedes parked on the bike path. While the Mercedes has been staged for the publicity stunt, the mayor hopes the law will encourage drivers to park in legal parking areas. For more information about this story, see www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0802/breaking18.html. That`s one of the things we appreciate most about him. Like Lawhaha.com (and unlike so many purveyors of legal humor), Randy doesn`t spread undocumented anecdotes that may or may not have actually happened. He does research and quotes everything. The letter states that Mr. Ug – supposedly a Peking man Homo erectus who lived in a cave in China 500,000 years ago – was the first to pronounce the word “the”. The heirs claim copyright on the and want me to stop using it.
They are also seeking damages for past infringements. I may need legal advice. Here`s the letter: Determined not to be fooled twice, George, with good legal research skills, wrote to the San Francisco Department of Recreation and Parks (bison are in Golden Gate Park) and received a response stating: The book contains a healthy dose of black legal humor, such as the story of a Scottish judge named Kames, who tried Matthew Hay in 1780. his former murder chess partner. When the guilty verdict was announced, Kames frighteningly remarked, “It`s checkmate for you, Matthew!” (Harris points out that the statement must be read with a Scottish accent to be fully effective.) Pro bono legal work is a service provided free of charge by lawyers to low-income clients or otherwise to promote the common good. (Pro bono comes from the Latin phrase pro bono publico, meaning “for the common good.”) When you think of the idea of a legal dictionary — which you probably don`t tend to do on a quiet night, but whatever—black people always come to mind. This rich body of work by Henry Campbell Black continues to dominate the legal lexicographical field. It is a revolutionary work, and this humble writer would not deny Professor Garner`s assertion. Black`s performance is excellent and his omnipresence is evident. The Alaska judge, the tired Florida law student, and the divorce lawyer in Billings lean on her. Thousands of specimens fall off the shelves every year in all the blessed countries of the Union. We should welcome such an authority.
In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, Illinois passed a sweeping set of criminal justice reforms that are expected to take effect in January 2023. Part of this package, the Fair Pre-Trial Act (PFA), eliminates cash bail for those accused of a crime and makes it more difficult for suspects to detain them before trial. Critics have called it “the purge law,” after the dystopian horror film in which all crimes, including murders, are temporarily legalized once a year. But does the law really go that far? We do not think so. A new book, Tales from the Courtroom, by English lawyer Brian Harris offers an interesting mix of historical, mysterious and humorous legal vignettes, mostly of British origin, but also American stories. Good news for legally inclined zombie lovers. Joshua Warren has compiled a casebook on the zombie law that includes “case reports of more than 300 U.S. federal court notices using the word `zombie` (and `zombies`, `zombies`, `zombies`, `zombies`, `zombified`, `zombism`, etc.). These include zombified Supreme Court cases (available as postcards, as well as zombie T-shirts and zombie USB sticks). Lawyers have a bad reputation, but most non-lawyers probably don`t know that lawyers give literally millions of hours of free legal services every year in the United States. Name another profession whose members give so much time. (Click here for a full 2008 American Bar Association study on pro bono service.) From the cold lands of Minnesota comes attorney Adam Johnson and his satirical legal dictionary called Deuce-Ace`s Law Dictionary, which is currently in preparation.
It includes useful definitions like these: If an elephant remains tied to a parking meter, the parking fee must be paid as for a vehicle. It is illegal to sing in a public place while wearing a swimsuit. Men cannot be seen in public in any type of strapless dress. Having sex with a porcupine is illegal. To non-lawyers, Justice Hand was a famous judge who, in a famous case – U.S. v. Carroll Towing – proposed a famous algebraic cost-benefit economic formula for determining whether injury-causing behavior was appropriate or inappropriate. If so, the defendant gets away with it. In case of unreasonableness, the defendant is liable for negligence and must pay damages. The formula is B< P x L. B represents the burden of avoiding a risk of harm, P is the probability that the risk will actually cause harm, and L is the severity of the harm when it occurs. The formula states that if the burden of avoiding harm is less than the probability of harm occurring multiplied by the severity of the potential harm, the behaviour is inappropriate (i.e.
negligent).