Joan Collins has starring role in lawsuit 


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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 clichéd 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.

 

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 11. 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.

 

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, and which you would choose, or have chosen, and 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 and opportunities. Add any other points that occur to you.

 

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

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.

 

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.

 

The Lord Chancellor

 

The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, more usually known as the Lord Chancellor, ranks eighth in order of precedence in England after the Queen: a status which reflects the importance of this position as a Minister of the Crown chiefly responsible for the administration as a Minister.

The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. The position combines duties which are legislative, executive and judicial: it is therefore an exception to the constitutional doctrine of the “Separation of Powers”.

In this legislative capacity the Lord Chancellor presides over the House of Lords. He or she may take part in its debates and can vote in all of its divisions.

In this executive capacity he or she is a member of the Cabinet, its chief legal and constitutional adviser and one of its representatives in the House of Lords. The Lord Chancellor is responsible for the custody and the use of the Great Seal, which authenticates important legal documents such as Letters Patent.

In a judicial capacity the Lord Chancellor is head of the judiciary and presides over the House of Lords sitting as a court of appeal. He or she is a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, is head of the Chancery Division of the High Court and a member of the Court of Appeal. However, the Lord Chancellor never sits as a judge other than in the House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Queen is advised on the appointment of puisne judges of the High Court, circuit judges and recorders. Magistrates and the chairmen of certain administrative tribunals are also appointed by the Lord Chancellor.

 

Vocabulary notes:

puisne judge молодший суддя
custody контроль, опіка
the Great Seal велика державна печатка
Letters Patent публічно-правовий акт наділення прав
the Privy Council таємна рада (у Великій Британії)
the Chancery Division канцлерське відділення (Вищого суду правосуддя у Великобританії)
circuit judge окружний суддя

 

Judges

a) The Lord Chief Justice (L.C.J.) is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and is head of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) and of the Queen’s Bench Division as well as being a member of the House of Lords.

b) The Master of the Rolls (M.R.) is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and is a head of the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) and also supervises the admission of solicitors to the Rolls of the Supreme Court.

c) The President of the Family Division is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister, and is responsible for the work of this Division of the High Court.

d) The Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are known as Law Lords and are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister from among existing judges or barristers of at least fifteen years’ standing. They are life peers and adjudicate in appeal cases heard in the House of Lords. They are also members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. There are nine Law Lords.

e) Lords Justice of Appeal are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister from among existing judges or barristers of at least fifteen years’ standing. They are judges of the Court of Appeal. They are twenty-three in number.

f) Judges of the High Court are known as puisne judges and are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor from among barristers or solicitors of at least ten years’ standing or circuit judges of at least two years’ standing. Twelve judges are assigned to the Chancery Division, forty-five to the Queen’s Bench Division and sixteen to the Family Division of the High Court.

All the judges referred to in (a)to (f) above hold office during good behaviour and may be removed by the Crown on an address presented by both Houses of Parliament. Their salaries are fixed by statute and form a charge on the Consolidated Fund. The effect of these two important provisions is to ensure judicial independence: a vital feature in the administration of law and justice within the State.

Judges of the High Court retire at the age of 75, and are eligible for pensions granted by statute.

1. Circuit Judges. These are judges appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Lord Chancellor to serve in (1) the Crown Court and (2) county courts. A circuit judge must be a barrister or solicitor of ten years’ standing or a person who holds the office of a recorder. The retiring age is 72, with the possibility of extension to 75. All county court judges who existed in 1971 became circuit judges, as did the recorders of Liverpool and Manchester, a number of whole-time chairmen and deputy chairmen of Quarter Sessions and certain other holders of judicial offices under the provisions of the Courts Act, 1971.

2. Recorders. Under the Courts Act, 1971 these are designated part-timejudges of the Crown Court. Appointments are made by the Queen on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor to men or women of standing who are prepared to commit themselves to not less than one month’s work on the bench each year. Barristers and solicitors of ten years’ standing are eligible for appointment to this office. If a solicitor holds the appointment for five years he or she may then be appointed a circuit judge.

 

Vocabulary notes:

the Lord Chief Justice лорд-головний суддя
the Queen’s Bench Division відділення королівської лави
the Master of the Rolls голова апеляційного суду і хранитель судових архівів
the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary призначувані члени Палати лордів по розгляду апеляцій
Law Lords судові лорди
adjudicate виносити судове або арбітражне рішення, розглядати спір
the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council судовий комітет таємної ради
Lord Justice of Appeal суддя апеляційного суду
provision умова, постанова, положення
county court суд графства
Quarter Sessions суд четвертних сесій
eligible for той, що має право бути обраним на певну посаду
hold office обіймати посаду

 



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