LAW AS IT SHOULD BE

One evening after attending the theatre, two gentlemen were walking down
the avenue when they observed a rather well dressed and attractive lady
walking just ahead of them. One of the men turned to the other and
remarked, "I'd give $50.00 to spend the night with this woman." To their
surprise the young lady overheard the remark and turning around she said,
"I'll take you up on that." She had a pleasant voice and a neat appearance,
so, after bidding his companion good night, the man accompanied the lady to
her apartment, where they immediately went to her apartment where they
immediately went to bed.

The following morning the man presented her with $25.00. As he prepared to
leave she demanded the rest of the money stating "If you don't give me the
money I'll sue you for it." He laughed saying "I'd like to see you get it
on these grounds."

The next day he was surprised when he received a summons ordering his
presence in court as defendant in a law suit. He hurried to his lawyer and
explained the details of the case. His lawyer said: "She can't possibly get
a judgement against you on such grounds, but it will be interesting to see
how her case will be presented."

In court after the usual preliminaries, the lady's lawyer addressed the
court as follows: "Your Honour, my client, this lady here, is the owner of
a piece of property, a garden spot surrounded by a profuse growth of
shrubbery, property she agreed to rent to the defendant for a specific
length of time for the sum of $50.00. The defendant took possession of the
property, used it extensively for the purpose for which it was rented, but
upon evacuating the premises he paid only $25.00 which is only half the
amount agreed upon. The rent was not excessive, since it is restricted
property, and we ask judgement to be granted against the defendant to
assure payment of the balance."

The defendant's lawyer was impressed and amused at the way the opponent had
presented the case. His defense, therefore, was somewhat altered from the
way he originally planned to present it. "Your Honour, my client agrees
that the young 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 stones, sunk a shaft and erected a pump, all labour being
performed personally by him. We claim these improvements to the property
adequately compensated for rental of said property. We therefore, ask
judgement be not granted."

The young lady's lawyer come back was this: "Your Honour: My client agrees
that the defendant did find a well on her property and that he did make
improvements such as my opponent has described. However, had the defendant
not known 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 it easily accessible to little children. We
therefore, ask that judgement be granted."

She got judgement.

Submitted by: Dan (dbrown@newbridge.com) from Kanata Ont. Canada
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