Appellate tidbits

Today's DJ's Gilbert Submits column is Brief Encounter, in which PJ Gilbert discusses some of the unacceptable behavior in the news of late, as well as a brief encounter of his own.

For the latest installment in the world of frivolous appeals see here.

Also see here, where Justice Baker gets Dickensian with a citation to Jarndyce.


Does citing really old cases payoff? Sometimes! See this 4/3 decision here:

• In drawing this conclusion we find both guidance and solace in the famed Highwayman's Case, Everet v. Williams (1725) reported in 1893 at 9 L.Q. Rev. 197, which the parties cited and argued before the trial court here. Dean Prosser described that the Highwayman’s Case in his characteristically dry style: “This was a suit by one highwayman against another for an accounting of their plunder. The bill was dismissed with costs to be paid by the defendant; the plaintiff’s solicitors were attached and fined fifty pounds each for contempt. Both plaintiff and defendant were subsequently hanged. In short, contribution was not allowed.” (Prosser, Law of Torts (4th ed. 1971) § 50, pp. 305-306, fn. 40.)