Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Mission Monitor Board Quislet's Super Law Firm...of Space!

Then I would advise you to not be so economical in your phrasing because someone will take such a statement as an admission. And sometimes admissions can be very costly.

So, Quis, how's the law firm going? You seem to have a lot of business. If I may offer some advice, don't take contingency cases. Get good hefty retainers upfront.

BTW, your advice demonstrates your wide breadth of legal knowledge and sound reasoning. Keep up the good work.

Semi,

Thanks for the compliment. (But please feel free to set things straight if I mis-state something)

Seeing as Thriftshop Debutante requested this thread, I am sending all the bills to her. I think I have properly padded the bill.

Quislet, Esq.


*Gives secret lawyer handshake*

I'm sure you meant you sent your bill in a padded envelope. A fine legal establishment such as yours would never need to pad a bill.

Um Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket. a padded envelope so it won't break in the mail.

such as hospital admissions?

Mr. Ranzz,

There are costlier admissions then hospital admissions.

Rest assured that I would not use your admissions/statements against you (except if you tried to sue me for malpractice) However there are others who would use your words against you. Hence my advice to you about being careful in what you say.

For example, regarding your statement that your "brother" is inhabiting the body of another. If you were to attempt to settle your brother's estate, this person who is alleging that he is your brother may attempt to stop you. His lawyer could use your statement to prove that you do not believe that your brother is dead (and therefore should not be probating his estate) and further that this person alleging to be your brother is in fact your brother and that you admit to such a fact. In this case your admission would cost you your share of your brother's estate.

I hope this clarifies my advice to you.

I wish you well.

Quislet, Esq.

oh, quislet, it's not always about the money. why would i want anything of garth's?

Mr. Human Lawyer:

I often feel discriminated against in your human eating and drinking establishments. When the patrons or proprietors see me, they often start screaming scurrilous slurs against rodents and, sometimes, even attacking me.

It's nothing I can't handle with my heat vision or super-strength, but I am curious: do I have any recourse in a human court of law for being treated in this fashion?

I realize that some rodents have poor hygienic habits, but I assure you that I bathe at least as often as the typical human, and I am certainly more intelligent than many humans, as well.

Is it fair to treat me based on an inaccurate stereotype of how some rodents might be?

Signed,
Curious Super-Rat

Mekt (If I may call you Mekt),

In the law, it is always about the money. Well, not always, but it is always put in terms of money.

Re-reading your original question, I do see that it was more of a philosophical question than a legal question.

Whether you accept your brother (whether he is in his own body or his essense is in another's body) is purely up to you. You know your feelings towards him. You know what type of a relationship you want with him.

We don't choose our biological family. We can and do choose who our friends are and who we accept as family.

What makes you think you're in my will? Besides, the security cameras at Legion World already caught you admiring yourself wearing my costume so you'll be lucky just to go back to having a supervised life.

Excuse me, Mr. Doctor Learned Friend, esquire, but I don't see any mention upfront about fees. Now you start charging - isn't that misrepresentation of some sort?

Also, haven't you broken client-attorney privilege by divulging that it was TD who asked you to open this thread?

Finally, you say we should not take any of your advice - yet you're charging for it? And even if some judge orders that we should pay, certainly we should only pay at the rates that lawyers charge for entertainment, which should be about minimum wage, I expect!

Dear Mr. Super-Rat:

I do sympathize with you regarding the discrimination you face. Would that everyone recognized sentience in all it forms and treated all with the respect each deserve.

Unfortunately at this time, Human courts would not recognize you are a legitimate party. Even if you were recognized as a legitimate party, discrimination based on species is not against the law.

I am sorry that I cannot help you in this matter. Please contact me again if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,

Quislet, Esq.

Thanks, Mr. Human Lawyer.

I guess I shouldn't have expected too much from the human legal system. I suppose I shall just have to take things into my own paws from now on when I've been unjustly treated (think heat vision).

Thank goodness the bar around here is so open-minded to sentients of all shapes, sizes, and forms!

Obviously you did not read the very fine print regarding fees. It is plainly visible (for anyone with Kryptonian vision)

A judge usually orders the payment of reasonable attorneys fees (not entertainment fees), which is usually determined by the going rate in the area, the length of practice for the particular attorney, and the complexity of the matter handled. You are paying for my time in answering your questions, not necessarily "advice". If you do not find this thread entertaining, you are perfectly free to go to other threads. And my actual fee for answering your questions is quite reasonable. You may have been confused with the fees I quoted regarding actual representation.

Attorney-client privilege only extends to those matter discussed in obtaining legal assistance. Not everything you discuss with a lawyer becomes privilege. Discussions of a business arrangement between the lawyer and another person is not subject to lawyer-client privilege. If a person came to a lawyer for legal advice about a business arrangement, then that would be subject to the privilege.

You sound like you have an action for either trespass to chattels or conversion here. Both involve the interference with your personal property. Conversion occurs when the property is so damaged that it can't be returned.

i repeat: why would i want anything of garth's?

may i remind everyone that the pamphlets aren't non-fiction.

if they weren't, i'm sure we'd all be interested in why "garth" was reviewing tapes of the men's room.

what's-his-face alleges that i wore a facsimilie of the live wire costume. this is not correct. but even if it was true, and even if it was live wire's actual costume/property, this person would have to prove he's live wire to file a complaint, correct? ha, ha, ha! caught in your own web!

Those Ranzz guys don't need a lawyer, they need a family counselor. Or their mom. Notice how Ayla just stays out of it? Clever girl.

Okay, back to the lawyer stuff. Couldn't Rody the Super-Rat get the SPCA or PETA or just Friends of Rody to appear on his behalf and fight for his rights? If you don't have any rights to begin with, if you're not even allowed in court , how do you get your case heard? (Should we move this to 31st century law? Or just invoke the Law of the Jungle, which would make Stu the Lion the judge....?)

What we are talking about is called Standing or the right to sue in court. Say that when Live Wire died, he had a will that left all his money and the family farm (which was in his name for tax purposes) to Brianiac 5. Gates thinks it is wrong that property should be in the hands of an individual and not part of a collective ownership. So Gates files suit challenging Live Wire's will.

The Court would say that Gates does not have Standing because 1) he was not listed in Garth's will and 2) If the will is thrown out then Garth's property would got to his surviving relatives (which Gates isn't). Therefore Gates would not suffer any harm if Garth's will is enforced.

So Gates refiles his suit on behalf of Ayla. The court would again throw out Gates' suit even though Ayla has standing because Ayla is competent to file the suit herself. Undaunted, Gates files suit on behalf of the trees on the family farm because Brainy plans on cutting them all down. again Gates' suit would be thrown out because the trees, not being sentient, don't have a right to sue.

In order to file on behalf of someone else, you have to show that the person has standing and is incompetent to file for him/herself (like a baby or a person with advanced alzheimers)


Back to Rody: Presumably in the 31st century of the Legion, any sentient being could avail themselves of the courts and Rody would have standing on his own.

The next point in his case is whether it is illegal to discriminate based upon species. Not all discrimination is illegal. There is no law that would prevent me from discrimating against left handed people whose last name starts with Y. So, I could refuse to serve those people in my bar and even require them to leave, but I still could not beat them with a broom stick as I hastened them from my bar. Why? Because as sentient beings, they would then have standing to sue me for Battery.

So, Rody currently needs to frequent only species tolerant establishments.

If a certain Security Officer constantly harrassed a certain rodent for using non-tolerant establishments, could said Security Officer find himself in serious trouble with the law?

It depends.

If the unnamed rodent is a citizen, then the unnamed Security Officer could face a law suit for the harassment as well as internal discipline (if not being terminated) And intoxication would not excuse the harassing behavior

You would have to be more specific in what you consider harassment.

Could you open a real-world law office and call it Super Law Firm of Space, or would the Bar association pay you a visit and suggest that you find a more dignified name? It would be a hoot, but some people have no sense of humour...

I don't think the Bar Association would concern itself over the dignity of the name.

It might be concerned if I called it "The Bribery Law Offices".

But I would suspect that the name "Super Law Firm of Space" would keep a few clients away.

Wow! What a fountain of information is available in this thread!

Thanks, Quis, for answering my question, re: Computo. To continue with Brainy for a moment, do you think he would have gotten off using the insanity defense for the damage wrought by his other creation, Omega? And if so, could they prove he was insane at the time he created Computo?