Joan Collins has starring role in lawsuit

Reuter and Associated Press

NEW YORK

 

British actress Joan Collins made her debut Tuesday in a New York courtroom, battling publishing giant Random House over a multimillion-dollar book contract. Random House is suing Collins, demanding the return of a $1.2 million advance paid to her for manuscripts it claims were unfinishable and unpublishable. Collins, best known for playing the scheming Alexis Carrington in the television series Dynasty, has countersued for $3.6 million she claims the publishing house still owes her.

Collins said she “felt completely shattered and let down” by the lawsuit. “It has seriously upset my writing career and my reputation,” she said.

The dispute centered on a simple question: what is a completed manuscript?

Delivering the opening argument for Random House, attorney Robert Callagy said Collins had not met the terms of her contract and had to return the advance money. “Miss Collins should be treated like any other person,” Callagy said. “If you sign the contract, you must perform.”

Former Random House editor Joni Evans testified that in 1991, when she first read Collins’ manuscript, she felt ‘alarmed’. “It just wasn’t working in any shape or form,” said Evans, now a literary agent. “It was no good. It wasn’t grounded in reality. It was dull, primitive and rough. It was clichйd in plot.”

Collins’ attorney, Kenneth David Burrows, argued that the actress had submitted two complete manuscripts, A Ruling Passion, written in 1991 at her home in France, and a second manuscript with the working title Hell Hath No Fury. Thus she had turned in the required number of words and therefore had complied with the contract. He also said Random House should have provided her with editing and advice but instead it was trying to avoid meeting its obligations. He argued earlier that under the 1990 book deal she was guaranteed the money even if the publisher rejected the book.

Verdict. The jury decided that Collins had completed one manuscript in compliance with her contract. But Random House did not have to pay her for the second manuscript because it was merely a rehashing of the first one and not a separate piece of work. The verdict meant Collins could keep the advance and collect more from Random House, though how much more remained in dispute.

 

Task 11. Work in pairs.

ROLE-PLAY

Is Justice Done?

Role play the Joan Collins trial.

step 1. Write down the speeches for the opening and closing arguments of the parties’ attorneys.

step 2. Role play the trial: ‘the lawyers’ deliver their speeches; ‘the defendant’ testifies in court.

step 3. The rest of the group – the jurors – deliberate the evidence and bring in a verdict of their own.

 

Task 12. Being a lawyer is regarded as one of the best professions in many countries. Think about what the different areas of specialization are, & which you would choose, or have chosen, & why. Make notes under the headings:

· choice of specialization;

· number of years of training;

· income expectations;

· responsibilities;

· kind of clients;

· need for foreign languages;

· likely challenges & opportunities.

Add any other points that occur to you.

 

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

 

Task 1. Review the text.

Legal Profession

There are two distinct kinds of lawyers in Britain. One of these is a solicitor. Everybody who needs a lawyer has to go to one of these. They handle most legal matters for their clients, including the drawing up of documents (such as wills, divorce papers and contracts), communicating with other parties, and presenting their clients’ cases in magistrates’ courts. However, only since 1994 have solicitors been allowed to present cases in higher courts. If the trial is to be heard in one of these, the solicitor normally hires the services of the other kind of lawyer – a barrister. The only function of barristers is to present cases in court.

The training of the two kinds of lawyer is very different. All solicitors have to pass the Law Society exam. They study for this exam while “articled” to established firms of solicitors, where they do much of the everyday junior work until they are qualified.

Barristers have to attend one of the four Inns of Court in London. These ancient institutions are modeled somewhat on Oxbridge colleges. For example, although there are some lectures, the only attendance requirement is to eat dinner there on a certain number of evenings each term. After four years, the trainee barristers then sit exams. If they pass, they are “called to the bar” and are recognized as barristers. However, they are still not allowed to present a case in a crown court. They can only do this after several more years of association with a senior barrister, after which the most able of them apply to “take silk”. Those whose applications are accepted can put the letters QC (Queen’s Counsel) after their names.

Neither kind of lawyer needs a university qualification. The vast majority of barristers and most solicitors do in fact go to university, but they do not necessarily study law there. This arrangement is typically British.

The different styles of training reflect the different worlds that the two kinds of lawyer live in, and also the different skills that they develop. Solicitors have to deal with the realities of the everyday world and its problems. Most of their work is done away from the courts. They often become experts in the details of particular areas of the law. Barristers, on the other hand, live a more rarefied existence. For one thing, they tend to come from the upper strata of society. Furthermore, their protection from everyday realities is increased by certain legal rules. For example, they are not supposed to talk to any of their clients, or to their client’s witnesses, except in the presence of the solicitor who has hired them. They are experts on general principles of the law rather than on details, and they acquire the special skill of eloquence in public speaking. When they present a case in court, they, like judges, put on the archaic gown and wig which, it is supposed, emphasize the impersonal majesty of the law.

 It is exclusively from the ranks of barristers that judges are appointed. Once they have been appointed, it is almost impossible for them to be dismissed. The only way that this can be done is by a resolution of both Houses of Parliament, and this is something that has never happened. Moreover, their retiring age is later than in most other occupations. They also get very high salaries. These things are considered necessary in order to ensure their independence from interference, by the state or any other party. However, the result of their background and their absolute security in their jobs is that, although they are often people of great learning and intelligence, some judges appear to have difficulty understanding the problems and circumstances of ordinary people, and to be out of step with general public opinion.

 

Task 2. Read & translate the text.

Legalese

Although lawyers come from a variety of backgrounds and do a variety of work, as a profession they often appear rather remote and difficult to understand. Perhaps one reason for this is legalese – the strange and incomprehensible language so many lawyers seem to write and speak. This is not just a feature of English-speaking lawyers. People all over the world complain that they cannot understand court proceedings or legal documents.

Of course all professions have their own jargon. The use of some special words can be justified because they refer to matters which are important to a particular profession but not important to most people in everyday life. But sometimes it seems that jargon is a way of creating a mystery about a profession of distinguishing people on the inside (economist, doctors, teachers) from those on the outside.

In recent times lawyers have made efforts to make their profession less mysterious. After all, their job is supposed to be to clarify matters for the public, not to make them more complicated! This is particularly so in the United States where lawyers openly advertise their services to the public and where special clothes and wigs, still a feature of the English system, have mostly disappeared. But it seems likely that legalese will survive for a long time to come. One reason for this is that old documents and reports of old cases have great importance in law, particularly in common law systems. Another reason is that rewriting laws is a slow and painstaking process. The words must try to cover every eventuality, because people are always looking for a legal loophole, a way of avoiding a legal duty by making use of an ambiguity or an omission in law. Consequently if there is an existing law which has worked for a long time, even a law which contains old language in long and complex sentences, it is easier to retain the old law than write a new one. Even when a government draws up a new law it is often guided by the working of an older law.

 

Task 3. Work in pairs.

Role play

Situation

Thieves broke into Camera shop in Pushkin Street last night and stole photographic equipment. Police say the thieves appeared to know exactly what they were looking for. They took only the two most expensive cameras and some accessories and left the rest of the shop virtually undisturbed.

Procedure

Groups of four to eight are needed for this activity. In each group there should be two suspects and two or more police inspectors.

Role B – suspects – the instructions which will help you to prepare for the role play:

One of you has been contacted by the police about the break-in because you used to work part-time at the camera shop until recently. You left after a row with your boss about your wages.

You have nothing to do with the break-in of course, but the problem is you can’t tell the police where you really were that evening without getting someone else into trouble. In fact you and your friend spent the evening playing the guitar and singing at a local pub until midnight. You know and like the landlord of the pub and you know he could lose his license if the police discovered he had kept his pub open after the legal licensing hours (closing time is 11.00 p.m. in your town). You are determined not to mention the pub in case enquiries in order not to cause problem for the landlord.

Thus the problem is to find alibi, mislead the police. Wouldn’t you try to do it?

Role A – Police inspectors.

The owner of the shop suspects a former employee of his who left because of disagreement over pay.

You have contacted the employee who says he spent the whole evening with a friend who lives in the same house. You have also spoken to the two suspects neighbors. A woman who lives on the ground floor says she was woken at about 12.30 a.m. when her dog started barking. When she looked out, she saw the two coming in and she thinks one of them was carrying a large bag.

The Police inspectors decided to interview each of the suspects in turn about their activities between 8.00 p.m. and 12 p.m. that night.

Plan the set of questions you should ask in order to test the truth of their stories.

Save the question about the large “bag” until last.

Finally, you will have to decide whether to charge the suspects with the theft. Your task is to expose those who tried to deceive you.

While discussing the topic try to use lists of some phrases that are utilized to express different shades of meaning.

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Warming-up:

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