“Lawyers suing BuzzFeed for alleged defamation tried using the defendant’s clickbait tactics in a motion seeking to keep the case in Miami federal court.” [ABA Journal, the motion] In the view of Kevin Underhill at Lowering the Bar, while the humor in the brief is pretty good, “the argument is less than compelling.”
Posts Tagged ‘humor’
Clichés come to life: lawyer’s pants catch fire during final argument
From the “clichés come to life” department: lawyer’s pants literally catch fire as he is making closing arguments to a jury [Miami Herald]:
A Miami defense lawyer’s pants burst into flames Wednesday afternoon as he began his closing arguments in front of a jury — in an arson case.
Stephen Gutierrez, who was arguing that his client’s car spontaneously combusted and was not intentionally set on fire, had been fiddling in his pocket as he was about to address jurors when smoke began billowing out his right pocket, witnesses told the Miami Herald. He rushed out of the Miami courtroom, leaving spectators stunned. After jurors were ushered out, Gutierrez returned unharmed, with a singed pocket, and insisted it wasn’t a staged defense demonstration gone wrong, observers said….
Officers seized several frayed e-cigarette batteries as evidence.
“Meet the Author — Frivolous Lawsuits, America’s Victim Culture”
It’s a cartoon — and not to be confused with an actual scene from one of my book signings [Dan Piraro]
“Plaintiffs are only allowed one bite at the sno-ball.”
For those who like judicial puns and wordplay, it’s on display in this Fifth Circuit decision on litigation between competitors in the southern Louisiana frozen confection business. [New Orleans Times-Picayune]
Take care where you reincarnate
On my trip to San Francisco last week I was delighted finally to meet Kevin Underhill, longtime writer of one of the most consistently funny and well-written of legal blogs, Lowering the Bar. If there were any justice in the world I would link a post of Kevin’s every day or two, but for the moment I’ll just note this one from last month: For years now, China has “forbidden anyone to reincarnate without [its] express written permission.”
Thought for the day: A nation of laws
“We live in a nation of laws, in the same way people on “Hoarders” live in houses of cat food boxes” — David Burge on Twitter
“Paramount Copyright Claim on Klingon Language Challenged in Klingon Language”
“The Language Creation Society has filed an amicus brief challenging Paramount’s claim of copyright over the Klingon language in its lawsuit against Axanar, a fan-produced film set in the Star Trek universe….The amicus brief is peppered with Klingon words and phrases.” [Ed Krayewski, Reason] More: Ken White, Popehat. Update: suit moves forward.
“I’ve been around the world six times on the back of a chicken.”
The New York Times in its “Op-Docs: Verbatim” series provides re-enactments of noteworthy real-life exchanges. “In this dramatization of transcripts from a legal deposition, lawyers grapple with a plaintiff’s bizarre testimony about the destruction of his chicken’s pasture.”
“Your answers to all my questions must be oral”
An old chestnut, now making the rounds via Twitter:
your answers pic.twitter.com/vnFmZb5GBU
— Gary Slapper (@garyslapper) March 14, 2016
“Monkey see, monkey sue” — but not monkey standing
The talk of legal Twitter over the weekend has been Andrew Dhuey’s motion to dismiss for the defendants in the monkey-selfie case. His brief begins (h/t Pogo Was Right):
INTRODUCTION
A monkey, an animal-rights organization and a primatologist walk into federal court to sue for infringement of the monkey’s claimed copyright. What seems like the setup for a punchline is really happening. It should not be happening. Under Cetacean Community v. Bush, 386 F.3d 1169 (9th Cir. 2004), dismissal of this action is required for lack of standing and failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Monkey see, monkey sue is not good law – at least not in the Ninth Circuit.
RELEVANT FACT
The only pertinent fact in this case is that Plaintiff is a monkey suing for copyright infringement.
Meanwhile, on what I suppose you could call a parallel track, from Broward County, Fla.: “Attorney Kenneth Trent says the turtles themselves have standing to sue in federal court” [AP/Fox DC]