christmas 2011 - law society · christmas 2011 with dave stepping into the role of convenor, it’s...
TRANSCRIPT
Inside this issue:Toast & Comedy Debate pics
Judicial Levity
Summer Clerks - the poem
Facebook wine offer
Un Match de Rugby
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Christmas 2011
11. YLC Community Notices
13. Un Match De Rugby
15. The Summer Clerks
17. Chapman Tripp Comedy Debate
19. Judicial Levity - Sarah Keast
22. Upcoming Events
2. Editor’s Letter
3. Convenor’s Note
5. Meet the Committee
Christmas 2011With Dave stepping into the role of Convenor, it’s over to me to write the Editor’s note for this edition. Once again we hope the Advocate provides valuable reading, with a mix of event round-ups and insightful and amusing commentary. 2011 has been another great year for the Young Lawyers’ Committee with many exciting events. In early October, a team of French lawyers descended on Welling-ton for a weekend of rugby and enthusiastic socialising. See details at pages 13-14. October also saw the Comedy Debate held at Chapman Tripp. A team of lawyers debated a team of non-lawyers regarding the proposition that “the world would be a better place without lawyers.” Michael Dobson and Steven Sutton offer opposing accounts of the event at pages 17-18. Another annual highlight was the much anticipated YLC Bus, or Buses this year, to Toast Martinborough. Details at pages 7-8. Please also check out the substantive articles included in this edition. Sarah Keast provides a very amusing insight into “Judicial Levity” at pages 19-20, while Greg Severinsen gets creative with a poem about summer clerks at pages 15-16. See also a very helpful article on the “State of the Market” from one of our sponsors, Simply Legal. With the year coming to a close, there has been a changeover of a number of YLC Committee Members, with a new Committee for 2012 recently elected (see page 6). We profile one of our loyal outgoing members, Alix Boberg, at page 5. The YLC already has an exciting array of events planned for 2012. In particular, look out for the annual Grad Cruise and an early social function planned for Febru-ary. See the list of upcoming events at page 22, and look out for further details in your inboxes after the Christmas break. As always, thank you to those who have contributed articles and photos to this edition. We would love to hear from all of you with any contributions for the next edition, or any comments on what you would like to see in future editions. Merry Christmas, enjoy the summer break and see you in the New Year.
Hannah Stallard, Crown Law
For more information visit
www.younglawyers.co.nz www.facebook.com/younglawyerscommittee
editor’ letter
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- Alix Boberg
- Greg Severinsen
- Damian Hanna
6. YLC Committee 2012
7. Toast Martinborough Bus
9. The NZ Recruitment Market
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The Young Lawyers’ Committeepresents
Chapman TrippComedy Debate
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ARE WE LIVING UP TO OUR PROMISE?I recently attended a fantastic seminar run by JustSpeak, the new youth arm of Rethinking Crime and Justice, on addressing issues relating to Māori and the Justice system. During the course of the evening, one of the speakers made a comment that has stuck with me since. He said that it was great to see such a strong turn-out from a group of young people because, he said, “as a suppos-edly liberal generation I think many of your number are remarkably conserva-tive”. Now before I start getting hate mail from any young ACT supporters amongst our readership, I don’t think this was meant in terms of who voted
left and who voted right at the general election. Indeed, I heard very similar comments from the National govern-ment Attorney-General at a recent address, where he urged the predomi-nantly youthful audience to “be more radical… you only have one chance to be radical when you’re young”. Nor do I think that this is an indictment on our generally liberal social attitudes in New Zealand. I think our young generation of New Zealanders is remarkably open and tolerant of people of different race, sexu-ality, religion or other diversity (though we never quite seem able to beat Sweden in those international charts, do we …
those crazy liberal Swedes). Rather, what I think was meant by these speakers was that as a genera-tion we seem singularly unwilling to take risks. Few of us are outspoken or lobby on issues or causes we believe in, or attend protests or rallies to bring those issues to the public attention. The Springbok protests, the student union sit-ins – these now seem quaint relics of a bygone era. Even the Occupy Aotearoa movement looks rather silly by today’s standards. According to the statistics, an alarming number of us didn’t even vote in the recent general election. I suspect that the relative levels of affluence and comfort with which we’ve grown up in New Zealand have made us largely complacent about our situation in life, perhaps even – dare I say it – a bit lazy. We are the most well educated and priv-ileged group of young New Zealanders who have ever lived, but also seemingly the most apathetic. One young person I spoke to recently told me he didn’t believe in getting personally involved in any causes because there wasn’t anything in his life at present that affected him particularly negatively – a viewpoint I found very hard to grasp, but which per-haps has become all too common. What
about global poverty? The world economic crisis? The scientific consensus on the impending effects of climate change? Increasing social disparities in New Zealand? The position of Māori? Even just the changing role of lawyers in society? You might well think I’m preaching to the choir here – surely of all groups, young lawyers must rank among the least lazy, the least complacent in our society. Yet although we all work hard, relatively few of us remain engaged in activities of importance outside the workplace. I’ve recently attended meetings of several dedi-cated and passionate youth movements in Wellington – JustSpeak, Generation Zero (a youth climate change group), Legalise Love (a youth equal rights GLBT group). All these groups, and long-established ones such as the Wellington Community Law Centre – are doing great things to explore new ways of looking at important issues and advocating for causes they believe in. I would love to see more young lawyers use their considerable talents, education and experience to support their community and community organisations. Especially in Wellington, where the levers of govern-ment and change are so close by, the opportunities to become socially and politically engaged are huge. It can also be beneficial to your career and to your general wellbeing. Recent dis-cussions by the YLC have highlighted the importance to work/life balance of main-taining involvement in interests and goals outside of work hours. This is something I hope to work with the committee on next year to encourage more young lawyers to become involved in the community. Finally, one group who have been anything but lazy is this year’s Young Lawyers’ Committee. I want to thank every one of them for the energy and effort they have put in this year. Several of our committee members – Hamish Scott, Anna Turnbull, Alix Boberg, Michael Dobson, Holly Hedley – will be moving on in the new year, so I want to thank them especially for all the hard work and enthusiasm they have given us in their time on the committee. More than anyone else, I want to thank the outgoing YLC convenor, Emily McLachlan, for the tireless effort she has put into the committee over the past 13 months. The committee under Emily has gone from strength to strength, and she leaves behind a more organised, well-funded and effective committee. I hope we can continue to build on her work in the months and years to come, and we wish her all the best. I’d love to hear any feedback you have about the committee, our work, or anything else. Have a safe and happy Christmas and New Years, and see you all in 2012!
JustSpeak is, incidentally, a great new organisation and I encourage everyone to attend a meeting and experience the discussions they are having. They meet monthly to discuss ways to address crime and punishment from a completely open, green-fields perspective. If you’d like to know more, email Max Harris at [email protected].
David Turner, YLC Convenor
AS A GENERATION
WE SEEM SINGULARLY
UNWILLING TO TAKE RISKS
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Name: Alix Boberg
Role: Judge’s Clerk to the Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias.
Legal background: LLB (Hons) completed at the University of Auckland and on exchange at the University of Copenhagen.
Prior to becoming a lawyer I was: Actually, without a current practising certifi-cate I’m still not a real lawyer. So I can’t say I am. That would be an offence.
Hometown: Auckland
When I’m not being a lawyer [insert judge’s clerk] I’m: tutoring hapless stu-dents at Victoria University or gallivanting about on theatrical stages in the guise of various quirky characters, most recently Willy Wonka. I really enjoy the fantastic cafes and bars of Wellington or alternatively escaping town on the weekends for a roadie or to hit the slopes of Mt Ruapehu.
What the YLC means to me: Excellent banter, good food and wine.
Committee achievements: It’s a big call to evaluate my contributions as “achieve-ments” per se. But I organised a pretty epic Grad Cruise earlier this year, and have helped carry more than a few cases of wine around to various events, and recently managed to get 96 Toast revellers to Martinborough and back the other weekend without losing a single one ... Also sometimes Dave entices me to contribute to this delightful scholarly tome.
Where will I be in 5 years?: Off to work as a Crown prosecutor next year at Me-redith Connell, and then who knows.
Alix Boberg
David Turner (convenor)
Pearl Roy (deputy convenor)
Tim Cochrane (treasurer)
Hannah Stallard (secretary)
Jamie Grant (marketing o
Guy Carter (sponsorship o
Sarah Watson (sponsorship o
Simon Wilson
(communications o
Alana Green
Amberley James
Anna Jacobs
Ben Sanders
Chantelle Stirling
Elizabeth Chan
Hadleigh Pedler
Harry Ratray
Helena Cook
Jordan Williams
Lorraine Hercus
Ian Miller
Joseph Fitzgerald
Katie Williams
Paul Smith
Sarah Backhouse
Sarah Keast
YLC COMMITTEE 2012..............................
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The YLC has reconstituted its committee for 2012. We would like to welcome the following new members:
Amberley James (Minter Ellison)
Elizabeth Chan (Supreme Court)
Hadleigh Pedler (Chapman Tripp)
Helena Cook (Health & Disability Commissioner)
Joseph Fitzgerald (Simpson Grierson)
Katie Williams (Buddle Findlay)
Sarah Keast (Court of Appeal)
and farewell and thank our departing members:
Alice Verry Alix BobergAnna Turnbull Emily MclachlanHamish Scott Holly HedleyMichael Dobson
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MAGAZINE THANK YOUS
We’d like to thank the following people for their contributions to the magazine:
Jenna Pardey, graphic [email protected]
Jeff McEwan, cover photoCapture Studioswww.capturestudios.co.nz
Alix Boberg, Michael Dobson, Dam-
ian Hanna, Sarah Keast, Greg Sever-
insen, Steven Sutton - contributors
The YLC would also like to acknowl-edge the work of outgoing Wellington branch manager Colleen Singleton and all the help she has given to the YLC. Thank you Colleen, and all the best for your travels.
BUS TRIP
I won’t usually be found sifting around TSB Arena at 8.30 am on a Sunday morning. Usually I’m in bed, with coffee, leisurely reading the Sunday Star Times and thinking about whether I’d like eggs or pancakes for breakfast. But on the 20th of November, outside TSB Arena I was, there to shepherd 96 excited Toast Martinborough revellers on board two coaches. Away without a hitch, we dined on croissants and strawber-ries (a surprise on the bus from YLC) while trying to stay upright as our bus drivers careered across the Rimutakas. We arrived in the Square with plenty of time to join crowds of festival-goers from Wellington and much further afield, all keen to get a Toast wine glass in hand, some Toast dollars in pocket,
and a vineyard in sight. Toast Martin-borough celebrated its 20th anniversary this year with blue skies and sunshine, and boasted an impressive line-up of musicians and chefs across the 11 par-ticipating vineyards. Amongst 10,000 other ticket holders, the YLC bus-goers quickly dispersed to sample the offer-ings of Martinborough from this year’s harvest. Highlights of my own from the day included jazz at Margrain, sampling Ruth Pretty catering amongst the trees at Ata Rangi, dancing to Supermodel at Te Kairanga and soaking up the sun at Vynfields. But everyone got on the bus at 6pm with a different story to tell about their route around their vine-yards, smiles on their faces, and many with a few bottles of wine to enjoy on
return to the capital. The bus trip back was somewhat quieter, as wine-drinkers rested weary heads, but the party did continue for many at Dockside on the waterfront (where, typically, it was pelting down rain, but no one seemed to mind). Thanks to New Zealand Coach Servic-es and to Alana and Dave for their huge support in organising the two buses to Martinborough. A top day was had by all. Bring on Toast Martinborough 2012!
Alix Boberg, Supreme Court
toastmartinborough
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Recruitment
Market
I have been in legal recruitment for most of the last twelve or so years and the sin-gle question that I get asked the most is:“What is the market looking like at the moment?” For the vast majority of those years, this was a relatively simple question to answer. For example, in 1999 and 2007 the market, both here and overseas, was buoyant so it was possible to say with a good degree of confidence that there were a lot of jobs around and that a candidate’s chances of getting one were pretty high. Similarly in 2001 and 2009, it was easy to tell prospective candidates that the market was very flat and that opportunities were very thin on the ground. However, answering this question in 2011 has been somewhat trickier. By that I mean that the market has been
very unpredictable. It is clear from watching any news bulletin and reading any newspaper that the economies, both here and overseas, are in a real period of uncertainty, bordering on fear. Conse-quently businesses are more cautious about spending their money either on the next big transaction or on bringing a matter to court, which obviously means a reduction in work load for lawyers. This has definitely resulted in a down-turn in work across the legal sector, resulting in employers being a lot more cautious about taking new staff on. This is a very similar scenario to that from 2008 until mid-2010. Where things are different these days is despite all the unpredictability and uncertainty, there are still opportunities available within the New Zealand market in private practice, the public sector and in-house. These opportunities are just more difficult to get. In times gone past when employers were busy, some candidates probably made it through when perhaps they should not have because the firms needed bums on seats. What is happening now is that employ-
ers are a lot more discerning about who they interview, never mind who they employ. The quality threshold has risen significantly this year and employers are not busy enough to need to settle for someone who ticks most of the boxes; they will wait for the candidate who ticks nearly all if not all of the boxes.
This caution from an employer’s point of view has meant that the whole re-cruitment process is a lot more drawn out than it used to be. On occasion, it can take weeks to get feedback on an application, further weeks to organise interviews and even more time to work out the details of an offer, if you are lucky enough to get that far.This caution is not just being exhibited by employers. Given that there were
some redundancies in 2008/09, there is a feeling among some candidates that, even though they would like to move on, it is probably better to stay where they are rather than moving on to an-other environment where they could be a victim of the “last in, first out” philoso-phy of redundancies. As such, there are a large number of passive candidates who are happy to wait until exactly the right role comes along, and otherwise they will sit tight and stay safe.In relation to the sorts of areas in demand, it is back to the usual suspects of employers wanting candidates with banking & finance, corporate/commer-cial and commercial litigation experi-ence, with the added areas of insurance and insolvency coming to the fore for obvious reasons. Unsurprisingly, prop-erty roles are few and far between and, anecdotally, I have heard that a lot of general practice firms are struggling as well with the changes to Legal Aid and such like. Despite general cuts across the public sector, there have been a reason-able number of vacancies this year in the legal sector, and although the corporates have been tightening their belt and look-ing very closely at headcount, there have been a number of juicy in-house roles around as well. The hardest hit group of lawyers at present are those starting out on their legal careers. As employers are look-ing at ways to save money, it is simply getting more and more difficult for graduate lawyers to get jobs as, inevi-tably, graduate positions are the first ones to be done away with. I have heard from many employers that the quality of graduates coming through now is higher than ever, which has coincided with fewer and fewer graduate positions being available, which is going to result in a lot of very smart and capable law graduates being lost to the profession
forever, which is a real shame. Where employers do have gaps is gener-ally around the 3-years-plus mark. It used to be the case that New Zealand lawyers left to go overseas after 2 years, but with the slowdown in legal recruit-ment in London and elsewhere more and more people are staying around for a year or two longer in order to make themselves more marketable when they eventually do go overseas. (This tenden-cy for lawyers to stay that extra year or two longer makes it even more difficult for a junior lawyer who wants to move within the New Zealand market as there is not the “churn” that historically there was due to candidates going on their OE with only a year or two’s experience). As the world lurches from one eco-nomic crisis to the other, it is impossible to say with any degree of certainty what will happen in 2012. My feeling is that it will be pretty similar to 2011 where the
general mood, while not being optimis-tic, could certainly not be categorised as pessimistic. Employers will continue to recruit but their processes will be more stringent and only those candidates with good grades, broad experience and a strong CV will have any real opportuni-ties. Candidates may need to be flexible on issues like location and salary, as this is not the market to have too narrow a focus or to overplay your hand when it comes to salary negotiation. Due the uncertainty and unpredicta-bility in the market, if you want to know where you stand and what your chances are of finding a position, I would strongly recommend talking to a legal recruiter who should be able to give you a “no strings attached” appraisal of where things are currently at and what you may need to do to get you where you where you want to go.
The New Zealand
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YLC COMMUNITY NOTICES
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Professional Pathways Wellington is looking to expand its young lawyer mentor base in 2012.Professional Pathways is an organisation committed to providing mentoring by young professionals to year 12 and 13 students from low-decile high schools in the greater Wellington region. We currently offer men-toring in law, medicine, engineering and accounting/finance.
As we expand our reach in Wellington, we need more mentors - including young law-yers - to help our students.
Mentors meet regularly (up to six times a year) with their students at their workplace in Wellington to provide guidance and sup-port.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor, or would like to find out more, please email [email protected] and we will put you in touch.
Could this be you next year...?
In particular, we are looking for those
interested in the roles of:
- Producer
- Costume designer
- Stage designer
- Graphic designer
If you think you have what it takes, or want to
learn more, email Jamie Young-Drew at
un match de
rugbyThe YLC, in conjunction with the Wellington Branch of the New Zealand Law So-ciety and Old Boys’ University Rugby Club, hosted the Wellington Lawyers vs Paris Lawyers rugby match on 1 October in Wellington prior to the France vs Tonga match. The match took place at Boyd Wilson field at Victoria University Kelburn cam-pus, and included an official welcome with anthems sung by our own local lawyer singers and, necessarily, French pastries. It was great to have a strong kiwi contingent there to watch our French counter-parts learn what New Zealand grassroots rugby is all about! In the end, Wellington won but the game was played in very good spirits. Following the match, players and supporters got together for a function at the Eating Room, where spirits continued to be high, assisted by wine kindly donated by John Porter. The French were presented with a signed All Black jersey, a carved mere and an engraved trophy; they in return provided tickets to the later Tonga vs France game. There was even talk of a follow-up match in Paris.
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THE SUMMERCLERKS
When winter chills are chased away by springtime’s fragrant handWhen pigeons fly the coop and poop all over Midland ParkA special time it is for WellingtoniansA time of year with special cheer - the time of summer clerks...From all around the country come these crisp suits, sparkling newWalking down the quay each day, trav-elling in a mobFrom Dunners some, from Christchurch more, from Waikato a fewAnd some old Labour list MPs who want a steady job.Heads held high and clutching tight their corporate branded padsLike magic, in a week in mid-November
they appearConfident to untrained eyes, these win-ning gals and lads But underneath more nervous than Phil in election year. They’d all got up at 6 am on that first fateful dayThey’d tied their ties for the first time and downed their slice of toastThey’d shaved and plucked and waxed and tucked and ditched their student waysTheir hair slicker than seagulls off the Tauranga coastAnd oh the joy! when summer clerks are sent to their workfloorsAfter weeks of training hard, learning corporate writing style
When partners don’t have to make their own coffees anymoreAnd law grads sigh relief they’re now not bottom of the pile.The smiles polite as the clerks find out to their slight dismayThat female partner numbers are pro-portionally lowBut all’s forgot when two days on they see their massive payAnd arrive at work on Thursday, Lam-bourghinis each in tow Overwhelmed with free stuff; pizza, wine and cakeTeam coffees four, five times a week, free lunches sun or rainAnd more contacts made with every day than John Key’s eyes could makeWith Labour leader’s eyes in his whole election campaign Friday drinks undergo a massive trans-formationWith blank cheques offered to drink as much as clerks are ableTo seniors’ frowns and juniors’ smirks and partners’ consternationSobriety comes crashing down like a summer clerk tow’r of Babel.But by Monday they are always back, and all rearing to go
With minds attuned to daily tasks of copying and filingThough remembering those 93 new names....that might be slowIt’s hard enough to not forget it’s “1” for outside dialling.And all the forms and paperwork, proce-dures all firm-wideThe clerks (quite understandably) don’t really understand ‘emLike the clerk that took a gun to work because the style guideTold him to insert bullets in his draft memorandum.
Or messaged his girlfriend at work to say they’d meet at morning teaAnd for why he did this he prepared a reason quite complexBecause the style guide said, unequivo-cally That he had to ensure in letters that he justified his text.Or the one who thought she’d have to improve on her soccer skillsBecause her manager told her she would have to be betterAt drafting complex codicils and compli-cated willsAnd include in each bold, 12 point arial headers.
Greg Severinsen, Simpson Grierson
SOBRIETY COMES CRASH-ING DOWN LIKE
A SUMMER CLERK TOWER
OF BABEL
And oh the silly questions that new summer clerks pose!Like why the rails were only built on the right side of the stairs(To which the partnership concurred they could simply suppose,There’d never been a left leaning em-ployee, it appears).But after all that, at the end of the day, with all the odd behaviourWith margins and hole punches placed completely out of lineWith shocking views like talking ‘bout the Wellywood sign with favourSaddled with so much work they seem positively equine.We love the summer clerks, we do - and hope they will be backTo file their way into our hearts again, and quench their thirstFor photocopying, and beer; with the economy on trackWe hope there’ll be more grads than MPs for New Zealand First.And we wish, we pray, we hope they’ll stayFor Friday drinks, for the increased payBut at the end of the day, we have to sayThey’re just gonna bugger off to the UK.Aren’t they?
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C H A P M A N T R I P P
Comedy Debate
A Tuesday evening in November saw Chapman Tripp host the annual Wellington Young Lawyers’ Committee comedy debate. While “comedy” and “debate” do not always go hand in hand, Chapman Tripp’s generous (but not Russell McVeagh generous) food and beverage service helped bring the two con-cepts together. This year the event also had a charitable edge, with donations going to the Red Cross Christchurch earthquake appeal. Affirming the moot “That the world would be a better place without lawyers” were Holly Walker (Greens), Reuben Levermore (MFAT) and Russell McVeagh’s own Steven Sutton. Opposing the moot were Greg Robins (Crown Law), Tom Hallett-Hook (Crown Law) and Michael Dobson (Chapman Tripp). Steven led off at first affirmative in a speech that promised to focus on “trust”, constructive trusts and contingency fees. Few of these topics actually received exten-sive air time, and instead he concentrated on recent maritime accidents, the coming of summer and the monopoly position remaining lawyers would enjoy in an infor-mal legal market in the post-lawyer apocalypse. Subsequent affirmative speeches covered sending lawyers to the Moon, space travel generally and gender gaps in the law. In response, the negative team focused on how much less amusing the world would be without lawyers (a fair point), the wasted investment that would result for those who had studied law and other incidental points (which became a bit hazy as the affirmative team’s interjections and gentle heckling escalated). As for the result, the initial round of applause, the negative team arguably won. The affirmative team called for a re-count. MC for the evening, Chapman Tripp’s Geof Shirtcliffe, did not seem inclined to grant the re-count, and instead said that the affirmative team won. At which stage the Greg Robins for the negative jumped up and delivered a short victory speech. It will remain a contested moment in his-tory.
Steven Sutton, Russell McVeagh
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History, so they say, is written by the winners, and nowhere is this truer than in the cut-throat world of competitive comedy debating. There is an old saying, well known to all veterans of the Com-Deb Circuit, which goes “If you tanked on the night, make sure you get Dave to let you do the write-up for the magazine”. What follows, therefore, is a totally impartial report of the exchanges that occurred on the 18th of October 2011 at Chapman Tripp, where two teams disputed the proposi-tion that “the world would be a better place without lawyers.” The affirmative team – composed of Steven Sutton, Reuben Levermore and Holly Walker – presented a rambling, barely-coherent stream of nonsense. In stark contrast, the negative team – Greg Robins, Tom Hallett-Hook and Michael Dobson – displayed verve and élan, the piercing logic of their arguments outshone only by the hilarity with which they were presented. Tom took us on a magical journey to the Lord of the Rings with Lawyers (including the relevant application of finders’ law to the One Ring, and techniques for having Gollum cross-examine himself). Greg combined humour, c2011 (hipsters – so lame) with humour, c1998 (yo mama!), to particularly rib-tickling effect. I defiantly made a speech, but at third negative and after a few wines, what I said is anyone’s guess. Chapman Tripp partner Geof Shirtcliffe was typically solemn in undertaking his chairmanship duties, hardly eliciting so much as a giggle all night.
In all seriousness, though, the evening was a great success. Thanks are due to all of the participants for having the guts to be involved, to everyone who helped organise the event, and to Chapman Tripp for hosting. The princely sum of $110 was raised for the Canterbury Red Cross Earthquake Appeal. Bring on next year!
Michael Dobson, Chapman Tripp
THE CASE FOR THE AFFIRMATIVE
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THE CASE FOR THE NEGATIVE
practise law at the level of a first year law student”. 3. “Paging Dr Freud”
Family law, with its warring couples, petty disputes and dysfunctional relationships, raises unique challenges for the courts. One Judge who evidently lost patience with the couple before him was Quinn J in Bruni v Bruni. This resulted in a judgment with such declarations as:
This is yet another case that reveals the ineffectiveness of Family Court in a bitter custody/access dispute, where the parties require therapeutic interven-tion rather than legal attention. Here, a husband and wife have been marinating in a mutual hatred so intense as to surely amount to a personality disorder requir-ing treatment … Larry gave evidence that, less than one month later, Catherine, “Tried to run me over with her van [fn: This is always a telltale sign that a husband and wife are drifting apart] … A finger is worth a thousand words and, therefore, is particularly usefulshould one have a vocabulary of less than a thousand words.
The dynamic nature of the common law lies in the fact that it is developed and driven by individual judges. Al-though they are largely guided by es-tablished precedent and expectations of judicial decorum, every now and then a judge will have a bad day in court, or just simply go off on a tangent. This article looks at some of the more extraordinary pronouncements that have been made in the administration of justice.
1. The super-nanny approach to
discovery
Many a corporate law grad has be-moaned the crushing weight of dis-covery obligations ... in the USA the term “discovery abuse” has been coined to describe the practice of attempting to bury one’s opponent in superfluous documents. Judge Becker came up with a novel approach in a complex anti-trust case, adding a “Time Out Rule” as Appendix B to a pre-trial judgment in Zenith Radio Corp v Matsushita Electric
Industrial Co: For no good cause shown each side will be entitled to three time outs be-tween now and the date of trial. A time out is defined as a one-week period in which no discovery can be served, all deadlines are postponed and counsel can generally goof off ... When a time out is desired, the designated whistler will go to the offices of opposing lead counsel and blow the whistle three times. Thereafter there will be a one-
week time out.... The sanction for illegal use of whistle will be that such counsel attempting to exceed the three time outs will have his, her or its desk moved five yards (in the event of a non-flagrant violation) or 15 yards (in the event of a flagrant violation) further from the jury box at trial.2. A judicial kindergarten party
Also in the category of “lawyer manage-ment” was United States District Judge Sparks’ response to an application to quash subpoenas for a technicality in Morris v Coker. The Judge issued an invitation “to a kindergarten party ... in Courtroom 2 of the United States Courthouse”. The party would “feature many exciting and informative lessons, including: how to telephone and com-municate with a lawyer; why it is neither cute nor clever to attempt to quash a subpoena notice for technical failures of service; and an advanced seminar on not wasting the time of a busy federal judge and his staff because you are unable to
Judicial Levity
Sarah Keast, Court of Appeal
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4. Pop culture pronouncements Occasionally, Judges resort to pop cul-ture references to liven up their judg-ments. For instance Judge Kozinski hid 204 movie titles in his judgment in US
v Syufy, a case that involved an alleged movie theatre monopolist. Syufy was “top gun in the Las Vegas movie mar-ket”, there was a “titanic bidding war”, and the competitors “saw their future as rocky”. Judge Kozinski, now the Chief Judge of the US Ninth Circuit, often inserts some levity into his opinions. In Mattel’s lawsuit against Aqua’s record company for “turning Barbie into a sex object” in the 90s bubblegum pop anthem “Barbie Girl”, the Judge began his opinion with: If this were a sci-fi melodrama, it might be called Speech-Zilla meets Trademark Kong. Barbie was born in Germany in the 1950s as an adult collector’s item. Over the years, Mattel transformed her from a doll that resembled a “German street walker, as she originally appeared, into a glamorous, long-legged blonde…. Aqua is a Danish band that has, as yet, only dreamed of attaining Barbie-like status. In finding in the record company’s favour and disposing of their counter-claim, the Judge advised the parties “to chill.”5. Doggerel and verse- why some
judges shouldn’t quit their day jobs Sometimes, all a judgment needs is rhyming couplets, as evidenced by District Judge Wangelin’s opinion on forfeiture in United States v One 1976 Ford
F-150 Pickup:
The defendant herein is a truck,The vehicle is a pick-up,Alleged by a fedTo be found in a bedOf marijuana, caught in the muck. Or Judge Eakin’s dissent in Porreco v
Porreco:
A groom must expect matrimonial pan-demoniumwhen his spouse finds he’s given her a cubic zirconiuminstead of a diamond in her engagement band,the one he said was worth twenty-one grand.
Similarly Judge Servitto in Michigan dismissed a defamation claim against Eminem, including a footnote with a “rap” of her own: “It is therefore the Court’s ultimate position, that Eminem is entitled to summary disposition.”
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THE JUDGE ADVISED THE PARTIES “TO
CHILL”
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upcoming events
MARCH 2012
Grad boat cruise
Lawn bowls
“Welcome to YLC 2012 bash
Wine & Cheese evening
Cocktail making 101
Speed dating
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HAVE YOU GOT SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE TO SAY?The Young Lawyers’ Committee
is the voice of young lawyers in
Wellington.
We meet regularly with the New Zealand Law Society to represent the views and interests of young lawyers on issues affecting the legal profession. Our role is not only to entertain and inform you, but to advocate on your behalf. If you have any issues, concerns or complaints, or anything you’d like to let us know about, email our convenor in confidence at [email protected]
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Become a fanon Facebook
oung lawyers’ committee.
WIN FREE WINE FOR REGISTERING
AS A YLC FACEBOOK MEMBER
Keep in touch with all upcoming YLC events and important issues online.
As an added incentive, if you “like” the YLC facebook page over Dec/Jan you will go in the draw to win 3 bottles of quality wine for your summer evenings, thanks to our financially savvy friends at MAS.
1) Shiraz - Pepperjack 2009 (Barossa Region, Australia) 2) Pinot Gris - Wither Hills 2011 (Marlborough) 3) Sauvignon Blanc - Mount Ara 2010 (Marlborough)
Draw will be made Mon 20 Feb 2012
Thanks again to: