John Green narrates a Mental Floss video, “Courting Disaster: 24 Ridiculous Lawsuits” (more). The first case, of the woman who sued Century 21 over an 80-cents coupon issue, is one we covered here. Which ones are absent from our archives but deserved coverage?
Posts Tagged ‘humor’
“I remain sir, Your obedient serpent”
Lawyer’s letter evicting Adam and Eve from Paradise: “If you have not vacated the property by the specified date, Messrs Michael and Gabriel (Bailiffs) Ltd. will be instructed to take possession.” [Jot 101, from 1964 magazine Arrows: 87]
To fit the crime: a social justice “Mikado”
The news that New York’s Gilbert & Sullivan Players have canceled a production of The Mikado because it was accused of purveying anti-Japanese stereotypes, and because there had been objections to Caucasian actors singing the parts, prompted me to write up a short piece in the new Weekly Standard on how the beloved operetta might be modernized for contemporary, social-justice-attuned ears:
So he decreed, in words succinct,
That all who flirted, leered, or winked,
Without consent-form double-inked,
Should forthwith be beheaded…
Correspondent Corey Bean contributed a verse:
My object all sublime
I shall erase the line —
Between micro-
aggressions and crime —
Between mere offense and crime;
The company for now is going to switch to a production of The Pirates of Penzance. “So now pirate-shaming is supposed to be okay?” Read the whole thing here.
“HP Asks For Heavily-Redacted Documents To Be Sealed…”
“…Judge Responds With Heavily-Redacted Refusal” [Tim Cushing, TechDirt]
French taxi drivers vs. Uber: the musical version
French taxi men attack Uber drivers, set cars ablaze, so France arrests (you guessed it) Uber executives. And someone needed to do a musical version, so I stepped up at Cato, to a familiar tune from Les Miz, with “Do You Hear the Drivers Honk?”
Kagan on Spider-Man patent case
Fresh off Twitter. The opinion in Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment, LLC is here:
I see what you did there, Justice Kagan. pic.twitter.com/sxjm3396xB
— Nicholas Bagley (@nicholas_bagley) June 22, 2015
Nice one, Kagan. #SCOTUS #Spiderman pic.twitter.com/iIJILzP9Hp
— Mike Sacks (@MikeSacksEsq) June 22, 2015
The road to Overlawyered
Searches that have brought visitors to Overlawyered.com over the past week: “spanking for insurance fraud” “i feel guilty as i got a item free as cashier did not scan it in” “what good is a low flow toilet that’s not high performance?” and “having trouble with cant believe its not butter melting.”
Legal ethics issues raised in Better Call Saul
An ongoing series by Nicole Hyland at Legal Ethics Forum (spoilers, earlier).
“How do you know it’s time to give up and dismiss your claim?”
“Well, if the judge is comparing you to the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, now’s probably a good time” [Kevin Underhill, Lowering the Bar, on the Montana case of Wallace v. Hayes]
Santa’s surveillance
…the Federal Bureau of Investigation approached Santa Claus to enlist his cooperation in a new surveillance program. FBI agents advised Santa that his extensive knowledge regarding “bad” children, and failure to disclose this information to the government, likely made him guilty of millions of counts of misprision of a felony. But, the agents added, perhaps a deal could be arranged.
Relax, it’s not real, it’s just Prof. Kyle Graham’s annual Christmas card couched in the form of a criminal procedure final exam. (Last year’s was a constitutional law final exam).