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This episode of A HLA speaking of

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health law is brought to you by A HLA members

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and donors like you. For more information,

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visit american health law.org.

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Hi, I am Norm Taber with this month's edition of the Lighter

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Side of Health Law. What's in a name? That's

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a question Julie asks as she reflects on Romeo's

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last name. When it comes to Traveler, David

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Wise, it seems there's not much in his last name. If

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he was wise, why did he drink out

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of the best Western's Motel hot

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tub ? If he had just applied Common Sense, he wouldn't

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have, and then he wouldn't have contracted Legionnaire's

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disease, and if he hadn't contracted Legionnaire's

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disease, he wouldn't have sued the Best

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Western and then the Best Western wouldn't

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have sued Brethren Mutual Insurance Company for

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coverage. But he did, and it did, and

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Brethren eventually settled with Best

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Western and David Wise learned

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it's unwise to drink from the

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Motel hot tub. The case is Brethren

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Mutual versus Jev , Western District

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Virginia, litigating New York style . They call

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New York litigators bare knuckle Brawlers. But

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here's a case where it's not just the knuckles that are bare lawyer.

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Jeffrey Chadro represented two defendants

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accused of stealing millions from their boss. They

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counterclaimed accusing their boss of sexual harassment.

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So naturally Jeffrey thought it appropriate to

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include several nude and semi-nude

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photos of the boss in his motion to

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state the proceedings. Being a discreet guy

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, Jeffrey included a request that some,

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but not all of the photos be filed

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under seal. The judge sealed

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all of them. Later, when Jeffrey filed a

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motion for summary judgment, he filed more

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sexually explicit photos of the boss, including

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the same photos that the judge had sealed.

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The judge entered a show cause order against

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Jeffrey. His response presumably

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filed with a straight face , was that he

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had no idea there was a rule against filing semi-nude

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photos of the opposing party on the

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public docket. Strangely, the judge

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was not persuaded by Jeffrey's argument. She

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entered a sanction order and fined him $1,000.

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I agree with the judge, but I take issue with one comment

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she made in scolding Jeffrey . She said, quote

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, Mr. Charo need to only consider

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how his own clients would feel if

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the shoe were on the other foot. I think

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a more appropriate comment would've been if

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the trousers were off the other party. Me

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and my big mouth. Me and my big mouth.

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I'm assuming that's what New Jersey lawyer Marcy

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gle was muttering after the New Jersey. Supreme

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Court suspended her for a year for

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overcharging clients in real estate

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transactions by collecting fake fees

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or fee amounts higher than the actual

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fees. Where does her big mouth come in?

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You're wondering? Well, the only reason the

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New Jersey Supreme Court or anyone else knew

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about the scam was that during a

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lull and a real estate closing, Marcy

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blurted out that she had come up with a crackerjack

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idea on how to take money from clients

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and was surprised no one else had thought of it. You

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just charged senior citizens transfer

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fees without the discount they're entitled to,

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and you keep the difference or you charge

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for non-existent fees. Well, the other

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people at the closing took notice, especially

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the lawyer who was secretary of the ethics

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committee for East Morris and Sussex

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counties. He turned Marcy in. It turns out

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that Marcy had been netting 50 to a

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hundred thousand dollars a year through the scam. Remember

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that Marcy said she was surprised. No one else

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had thought of the scam. Well contrast that

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with her defense, which was, Hey, I

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only did it because all the other lawyers are doing it.

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Labels matter. Here's a case demonstrating the

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importance of how something is labeled. After

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drinking in Zaps Sports Bar, Brad

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Polly was both intoxicated and angry. He

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got into his car and drove it straight

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into the bar, injuring several bar

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patrons. The bar and the injured

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patrons demanded that the bar's liability

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insurer, Atlantic Casualty cover

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the incident. Atlantic refused citing

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the exclusion for assault and

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battery. The bar and injured

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patrons responded. This wasn't

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assault and battery. This was a car crash. Atlantic

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won the Argumenting. One reason was the label on

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the crime. Brad had pleaded guilty to aggravated

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vehicular assault. The case is

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Atlantic Casualty versus ruts Southern

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District Ohio. Only in

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America, six flags Theme Park in

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Missouri has an annual Halloween Fright Fest,

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an event where you pay good money to get scared

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out of your wits. Carly Munoz thought

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that sounded great. So she forked over the admission

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fee and went into the park where for three fun

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filled hours, she encountered characters who

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tried to scare her. She saw countless

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other guests scream and run away in fear from

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the variously costumed park characters.

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Around 11:00 PM a clown jumped

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out of nowhere. Well, it seemed like nowhere and

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started chasing a group of guests. Everyone

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including Carly, ran for their lives. Carly

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tripped on a curb and hurt herself. This

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being America, Carly naturally

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sued Six Flags and the unidentified

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clown whom she called doe

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, apparently leaving off the first name

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because she didn't know the sex of the scary

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clown. Do scary clowns even have

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a sex? If not, where did baby clowns

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come from? But back to the lawsuit. What

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was Carly's claim? Well, wasn't it obvious

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defendants didn't scare people in a safe

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manner? A clown shouldn't chase people once

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they start running. It's scary. Well,

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as nervy as it sounds, six flags move for

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summary judgment arguing that a person who

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pays good money to go to Fright Fest assumes

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the risk of being frightened. That's why they call

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it Fright Fest. Carly

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had assumed the risk of being frightened of

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running away and fright and therefore tripping

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and falling while running away. The trial

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court agreed with Six Flags and the Missouri

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Court of Appeals affirmed the moral to

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the story. If you pay good money to attend

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Fright Fest, you assume the risk that you'll be

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frightened and do the things people do when

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frightened like running away and of doing

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the things people do when running away, like tripping

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and falling. I know that's frightening, but

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it's the law. The case is MNOs

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versus Six Flags. Worst idea

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of the Month award. This month's worst idea

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of the month award goes to New York Attorney J

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, that's JAES Lee.

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She represented the plaintiff in an appeal

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to the Second Circuit. Her case had been

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dismissed by the district court for persistent

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and knowing violation of court orders, so

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the court was already short on patience

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when she filed a brief citing a decision

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with the impressive name matter of

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Bogen y versus coordinated behavioral

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health services. When the court couldn't

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find a copy of the case, it ordered her

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to produce a copy belatedly. She

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replied that she could not furnish a copy. She

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didn't say why, but the court did. She

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couldn't submit a copy because the case does

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not exist. When the court demanded

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an explanation, she replied in effect,

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well, it wasn't my fault. I relied on chat

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GPT and chat GPT let me down.

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It gave me the case name. How in the

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world could I know the case doesn't exist? Then

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came the worst idea of the month. You

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know what she added? In effect, the

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court really ought with advised lawyers about

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the risks of using artificial intelligence.

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In other words, it's your fault for not warning

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me the court's response. We

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don't need to issue a warning. Rule 11 says

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in black and white that lawyers have a duty to

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verify the accuracy of their filings.

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You violated that rule and you

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are hereby referred to the court's grievance panel

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for investigation and consideration of

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referral to the bar committee on

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admissions and grievances. The

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case is Park versus Kim Second Circuit,

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and it really does exist. Complaint

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department, when a word is worth

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a thousand pictures, everybody says a picture

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is worth a thousand words, but not always. Sometimes

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it's the opposite. Take elevator buttons.

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You've probably had this experience. You

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get on the elevator with time to spare,

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but just as the doors are closing, one

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more person tries to get on. Maybe it's

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your boss or that news , sixth floor

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receptionist you'd like to meet. You wanna stop

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the door from closing, and let's face

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it, you want credit for your courtesy.

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You look at the button panel. The only

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button with a word says emergency.

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That can't be it even if it is your boss.

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All the other buttons have numbers except two with

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graphic symbols. One has the math symbol

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for less than on the left and more than on the

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right. The other has more than on the left and

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less than on the right. One must

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mean open and the other closed , but which is a witch

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. You have to make a split second decision.

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Sadly, you make the wrong one. You've not

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only failed to keep the doors open, you've sped

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up the closing worse. You've been seen

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doing it by the boss or the

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receptionist. Now imagine

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that the two buttons had the words open

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and close on them. You'd instantly know

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which one to push. The doors would stay open

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and your boss or the receptionist would be

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impressed by your courtesy. That's

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when a word is worth a thousand pictures. If

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you have a complaint, send it to me. Well,

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that's it for this month's edition. I hope you liked it. I'll

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be back next month with another edition of the Lighter

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Side of Health Law .

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Thank you for listening. If you enjoy

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this episode, be sure to subscribe to

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a HLA speaking of health law wherever

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you get your podcasts. To

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learn more about a HLA and the educational

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resources available to the health law community,

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visit American health law.org.