Fwd: A Well-Argued Court Case
The beauty of a language and the art of constructing the words of the
language significantly lead to their meaning. This is not a case of
twisting, but of the refined manner of presentation by witty minds. A
good case for reference.
One evening, after attending the theater, two gentlemen were walking
down the avenue when they observed a rather well dressed and
attractive young lady walking ahead of them. One of them turned to the
other and remarked, "I'd give $250 to spend the night with that
woman."
Much to their surprise, the young lady overheard their remark, turned
around, and replied, "I'll take you up on that offer."
She had a neat appearance and a pleasant voice, so after bidding his
companion good night, the man accompanied the young lady to her
apartment.
The following morning, as he prepared to leave, the man gave her $125.
She demanded the rest of the money, stating, "If you don't give me the
other $125 I'll sue you for it." He laughed, saying "I'd like to see
you get it on these grounds."
Within a few days, he was surprised when he received a summons
ordering his presence in court as a defendant in a lawsuit.
He hurried to his lawyer and explained the details of the case. His
lawyer said, "She can't possibly get a judgment against you on
such grounds, but it will be interesting to see how her case will be presented."
After the usual preliminaries, the lady's Lawyer addressed the court as follows:
"Your honour, my client, this lady, is the owner of a piece of
property, a garden spot, surrounded by a profuse growth of shrubbery,
which property she agreed to rent to the defendant for a specified
length of time for the sum of $250. The defendant took possession of
the property, used it extensively for the purposes for which it was
rented, but upon evacuating the premises, he paid only $125, one-half
of the amount agreed upon. The rent was not excessive, since it is
restricted property, and we ask judgment be granted against the
defendant to assure payment of the balance."
The defendant's Lawyer was not only surprised but also impressed and
amused by the way his opponent had presented the case. Naturally, his
defense was somewhat different from the way he originally planned to
present it. He rose to the occasion!
'Your honor," he said, "My client agrees that the lady has a fine
piece of property, that he did rent such property for a time, and a
degree of pleasure was derived from the transaction. However, my
client found a well on the property around which he placed his own
stones,sunk a shaft, and erected a pump, all labour performed
personally by him. We claim these improvements to the property were
sufficient to offset the unpaid amount, and that the plaintiff was
adequately compensated for the rental of said property. We, therefore,
ask that judgment not be granted."
The young lady's lawyer answered, "Your honor, my client agrees that
the defendant did find a well on her property. However, had the
defendant not known that the well existed, he would never have rented
the property. Also, upon evacuating the premises, the defendant
removed the stones, pulled out the shaft, and took the pump with him.
In doing so, he not only dragged the equipment through the shrubbery,
but left the hole much larger than it was prior to his occupancy,
making the property much less desirable to others. We, therefore, ask
that judgment be granted."
In the Judge's decision, he provided for two options: "Pay the balance
$125 to the plaintiff, or have the equipment detached from its current
location and provide it to the plaintiff for damages."
The defendant wrote out a check immediately.