Courts and Law

Pro Bono Barrister: Jurists perform in Kings Inn accident melodrama

February 3, 2014 By Charles F. Otey, Esq. Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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The Kings County Nathan Sobel American Inns of Court is known for its courtroom re-enactments. Presentations are well scripted and are calculated to show newer lawyers what they can expect when they step into the Trial Arena. Last  Tuesday’s show, titled “Decisions That Make Or Break The Case,” was one of the Inn’s best.

Granted, Inn members usually work from scripts but sometimes they get caught up in the moment and deliver, shall we say, moments of creative brilliance.

Such star turns were effectively provided by two of the participating jurists, Justice Arthur Schack and Judge Shawn Dia Simpson.

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Judge Simpson, known here as Dee Dee, showed that she could handle even the toughest moments in the Inn courtroom. Justice Schack, a known scholar, often “overruled” the script whenever he thought he was right–and he usually is.

Capturing the instant approval of the scores of jurists and barristers in attendance at the Brooklyn Bar Association headquarters was former Justice Edward Rappaport, who convincingly brought TV announcer Bob Burgundy to life!

Every act was introduced in authentic Burgundy style and was all the more effective because the Hon. Rappaport is known for his droll humor, which he used to create his own “Burgundy,” bellowing “this is a sordid tale of a law suit involving a Blonde, a Hair Spray, an Explosion and a Professional Wrestler.”

Actually there was a lawsuit here, actually three, resulting from an accident that happened when passenger Iam A. Passenger handed driver Dee Dee a defective aerosol container of “Hair Poof,” which exploded when driver Dee Dee foolishly attempted to bite the lid and thereby increased the bottle’s stream.

The Dee Dee vehicle, a convertible Miata, then rammed into a tree, which was occupied by a professional wrestler who goes by the name “Flying Felon.” This caused F.F. to plummet downward 20 feet  directly through the top of the convertible.

The other panelists, led by Jon Besunder and including Angelique Moreno, Raphael Berman, Jordan Tucker and port-sider Greg Cerchione, clearly inspired by the aforementioned jurists, were able to present a fact pattern – roughly the same as the “facts” related above.

Raised and ruled upon were probing questions such as these:

  1. Could a sublimine motion by the plaintiff grappler — granting him the right to avoid using his incriminating title “Flying Felon” — protect him at trial?     

  2. Could one attorney (John Pompous) represent both driver Dee Dee and Iam A. Passenger in any subsequent suit, civil or criminal?

  3. Could Pompous ethically refer one of the parties, probably the culpable driver, Dee Dee, to another attorney in his firm?

Leading the Inn this year are President Justice Ellen Spodek, President-elect Dave Chidekel, Counselor Justice Arthur Schack, Treasurer Justice Miriam Cyrulnik and Secretary Jon Besunder. 


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