Law Music Video: Judge and Jury

A soul song from the 70's wraps up posts for the 2012-2013 academic year.  After this post LSCB will go into hibernation mode for the summer.

So, enjoy Jetton and Prinz singing Judge and Jury.

Lyric Rip-Off or Just a Pick Up Line?

In what is termed in the description for the video below as "perhaps the world's most groundless lawsuit," Ukranian pop singer Aza has sued Carly Rae Jepsen for sampling her lyrics in Jepsen's hit song, Call Me Maybe.

Aza:  "Call me. Here is my number."
Jepsen:  "But, here's my number. So, call me , maybe."

Hmmm. Shakespeare it is not.

Employment Law Basics: Employment-at-Will

This video is simple, but it says it - introducing the concept of employment-at-will.

When is Food Unfit For Its "Ordinary Purpose?"

The UCC says that every sale by a merchant includes the implied warranty of merchantability. "Merchantability," among other requirements, means that the goods are fit for the ordinary purpose for which such goods are intended. When the goods are food, that means that the warranty requires that the food be fit for human consumption. Typically, when the food contains foreign objects, like broken glass, or human fingers, the case is pretty clear that the warranty is breached.  However, what should be the test applied to determine if the warranty is breached when the food contains a natural, yet inedible object; i.e. beef bone in a hamburger, or a cherry pit in cherry nut ice cream. The emerging legal test seems to no longer turn on a foreign/natural object tests.  Instead the test is, "What is the reasonable expectation of the consumer?"

Needless to say, this consumer did not expect what she found in her green beans:

Justice Denied - NY Times series

The New York Times recently ran a three-part series of articles exposing serious and inordinate delays in the processing of criminal cases in the Bronx borough of New York City. Typical delays of up to five years have seen prosecutors' conviction rates plummet as witnesses disappear and evidence goes stale. Below are links to the three articles. Click on the image to go to the article.

Faltering Courts, Mired in Delay:


Courts in Slow Motion, Aided by Defense:


For Three Years after Killing, Evidence Fades as a Suspect Sits in Jail:

Imagining a Modern Bill of Rights

Here's an interesting exercise: If your students were to re-write the Bill of Rights from scratch, what would it include?  If we drafted a new constitution every 20 years, as Jefferson may have suggested, what would be included in the latest draft among the concept of fundamental liberties?

Payment in Meatballs

Thanks to Regina Robson at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia for suggesting this movie clip.  Whilewere chatting at this past weekend's meeting of the North East Academy of Legal Studies in Business (NEALSB), Regina suggested a scene from the movie The Wedding Singer, to illustrates the principal of consideration. Robbie is helping Rosie get ready to sing at her 50th anniversary party by playing the piano for her rehearsals. Rosie pays him . . . in meatballs.

Click on the picture below to see the clip.