is that it can be...funny. And by that I mean strange, and also amusing because I tend to find the strange amusing.

Or at least the case opinions, written by judges, (which is pretty much all law students read) can be. Mostly it's when you come across a case where the judge was either a frustrated playwright or literary critic, and they add what I like to think of as flourishes to the opinion. Or you wonder how many more references to Dickens or Shakespeare they can make, because you're studying the law and they're quoting fiction. And every once and a while you come across a case where you read the opinion and think, "Ha! This judge was taking the mick, right?"

So I thought I'd share a little from what has become my top favorite case I've read in law school, because I do love the absurd. And ghosts. :)

Stambovsky v. Ackley, 572 N.Y.S.2d 672

So I won't bore you with all the legal issues and jargon, but basically this guy contracts to buy a house and then discovers it's haunted and wants the contract to be cancelled.

The opinion starts out, "Plaintiff, to his horror, discovered the house...was widely reputed to be possessed by poltergeists." The opinion is only a couple of pages and we have these phrasing gems throughout:

"plaintiff hasn't a ghost of a chance"

"spirit of equity"

"[basis for granting relief] elusive if not ephemeral"

"Pity me not but lend thy serious hearing to what I shall unfold." (Oh yeah, that's from Hamlet. Didn't I tell you they like to quote the Bard?)

"'Who you gonna' call?'" (Apparently they also like to quote Ghostbusters.)

"[transaction will] come back to haunt him"

"most unnatural bargain"

"[this notion is] a hobgoblin which should be exorcised from the body of legal precedent and laid quietly to rest"

Ha.

But the best line in the whole piece? "...as a matter of law, the house is haunted."

Ha. Ha.

I'm not usually one to pimp another author's interview when the author isn't me and I didn't do the interview...

BUT I do like to pimp laughs and they're free, so if you have a moment you can hop on over to the interview of Ethan Day over at Stormy Glenn's blog...and tell me this guy doesn't make you laugh! His response to one of the questions made me choke with laughter and diet coke--and if you're thinking that's as unattractive as it sounds, you're right! I was coughing, laughing, gasping, diet coke was everywhere and tears were running down my face.

But it was the best choke I ever had! (Ha.)

I snagged this from anahcrow and despite what my good friend, abstractrx has told me, I think sometimes the universe really does send messages through the internet. *g*

This was my first:




And this was my second:



And this was my third:

Okay so I know that this is the second time I'm posting today (I posted Monday's MOM quote of the week earlier) and ya'll will get sick of me soon, I'm sure, but OMG this made me laugh.

The hilariously funny comedic (there's a reason for the redundancy peoples) reviewing style of one Lisabea is only improved--if that's even possible-when you add TeddyPig to the mix. Or "das bearpork" (hee) as Lisabea called him in one of her reviews though I can't remember which one. LB does a ManLove Monday post every, yeah you guessed it, Monday. She's one funny lady. And made of awesome. Even if she does like Russell Crowe a lot.

Anyways, today she and TP did this review of this double dick alien sex book, and I laughed. A lot. So I'm sharing. Click here for da funnies over at Lisabea's Nose in a Book blog.