QuizLaw

« Global Crossing Telecommunications, Inc. v. Metrophones Telecommunications, Inc. | Main | QuizLaw’s Mother of the Month »

Uhm, yeah. I’m gonna need you to go ahead and file that motion on Saturday, mmmmkay? Great.

Judge Mark Painter, of Ohio’s 1st District Court of Appeals, is my kind of judge. He’s a proponent of clear and simple legal writing, and he also tries to add some flair to his opinions where he can, with entertaining references to songs and movies and whatnot:

His recent opinions include:

-A quote from comedian Ron “Tater Salad” White in reference to a drunken driving case: “Clearly (he) had the right to remain silent, but not the ability.”

-A line from singer Al Jarreau’s song “Moonlighting” – “some walk by night, some fly by day” – in reference to a dispute over hotel checkout times. Painter even included a web link so readers could listen to the song online.

-A quote from Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass,” in which Humpty Dumpty says, “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean.”

-A quote from the movie “Office Space,” which Painter thought might explain why a lawyer missed a deadline: “Sounds as if prior counsel had a case of the Mondays.”

Painter says, rightly so, that “[s]ome of these legal issues are often dully and boring. You’ve got to liven things up a bit.” As one might expect, some are amused by Painter’s opinions, while others are annoyed, thinking Painter is being an attention whore by adding unnecessary flourishes to his opinions. However, Painter is quite serious about all of this:

“My passion is improving legal writing,” Painter said. “Too often, judges and lawyers jsut write for each other. They use so much legalese, you get to the end and you don’t know what happened.”

Since folks say that Painter’s opinions are smart and concise, I have no problem with his attempt to add some levity to them. And I especially support his goals of making the decisions more understandable.

“Every case involves people, lay people,” Painter said. “I think they should be able to understand what’s happening to them.”

Posted by Seth on April 18, 2007 | Comments (1)