1. Joan Collins Has Starring Role in Lawsuit

2. Reuter and Associated Press

3. New York

British actress Joan Collins made her debut Tuesday in a New York courtroom, battling publishing giant Random House over a multimillion-dollar book contract.

Random House is suing Collins demanding the return of a $1.2 million advance paid to her for manuscripts. It claims they were unfinished and unpublishable.

Collins, best known for playing the scheming Alexis Carrington in the television series Dynasty, has countersued for $3.6 million. She claims the publishing house still owes her.

Collins said she “felt completely shattered and let down” by the lawsuit. “It has seriously upset my writing career and my reputation”, she said.

The dispute centered on a simple question: what is a completed manuscript?

Delivering the opening argument for Random House, attorney Robert Callagy said Collins had not met the terms of her contract and had to return the advance money. “Miss Collins should be treated like any other person,” Callagy said. “If you sign the contract, you must perform”.

Former Random House editor Johnny Evans testified that in 2009, when he first read Collins’ manuscript, he felt ‘alarmed’. “It just wasn’t working in any shape or form,” said Evans, now a literary agent. “It was no good. It wasn’t grounded in reality. It was clichéd in plot.”

Collins’ attorney, Kenneth David Burrows, argued that the actress had submitted two complete manuscripts, A Ruling Passion, written in 2009 at her home in France, and a second manuscript with the working title Hell Hath no Fury. Thus she had turned in the required number of words and therefore had complied with the contract. He also said Random House should have provided her with editing and advice but instead it was trying to avoid meeting its obligations. He argued earlier that under the 1990 book deal she was guaranteed the money even if the publisher rejected the book.

Verdict. The jury decided that Collins had completed one manuscript in compliance with her contract. But Random House did not have to pay for the second manuscript because it was merely a rehashing of the first one and not a separate piece of work. The verdict meant Collins could keep the advance and collect more from Random House, though how much more remained in dispute.

b) Role-play

Is Justice done?

Role play the Joan Collins trial.

Step 1. Write down the speeches for the opening and closing arguments of the parties’ attorneys.

Step 2. Role play the trial: ‘the lawyers’ deliver their speeches; ‘the defendant ‘ testifies the court.

Step 3. The rest of the group – the jurors – deliberate the evidence and bring in a verdict of their own.

Glossary

1. adversarial (adj.) – involving people who are in opposition and who make attacks on each other.

e.g. The adversarial nature of the two-party system; the adversarial system of justice.

2. arbiter (n.) - a person who with the power or influence to make judgments and decide what will be done or accepted.

e.g. The law is the final arbiter of what is considered obscene.

3. assault (n.) - an act of criticizing somebody severely.

e.g. The paper's assault on the president was totally unjustified.

4. bailiff (n.) – an official who keeps order in a court of law, takes people to their seats, watches prisoners, etc.

e.g. The work of bailiff is very hard.

5. breach (n.) - a failure to do something that must be done by law.

e.g. They are in breach of Article 119.

6. breach (v.) - to not keep to an agreement or not keep a promise.

e.g. The government is accused of breaching the terms of the treaty.

7. burden of proof (n.) - the task or responsibility of proving that something is true.

e.g. The burden of proof lies on the prosecution.

8. claim (v.) – to ask for money from the government or a company because you have a right to it.

e.g. She claimed damages from the company for the injury she had suffered.

9. claimant (n.) – a person who claims something because they believe they have a right to it.

e.g. The claimant hoped to settle the case out of court.

10. compensation (n.) – something, especially money, that somebody gives you because they have hurt you, or damaged something that you own; the act of giving this to somebody.

e.g. To claim/award/receive compensation.

11. complain (v.) - to say that you are not satisfied about something.

e.g. The defendant complained of intimidation during the investigation.

12. complaint (n.) - the act of complaining.

e.g. I can see no grounds for complaint.

13. contestant (n.) – a person who takes part in a contest.

e.g. Please, welcome our next contestant.

14. contract (n.) – an official written agreement.

e.g. To enter into/make/sign a contract with the supplier.

15. counterclaim (n.) – a cross-claim brought by a defendant in civil proceedings that asserts an independent cause of action but is not also a defence to the claim made in the action by the plaintiff.

e.g. Amid all the claims and counterclaims it was hard to say who was telling the truth.

16. damages (n.) – an amount of money that is paid to somebody by the person, company, etc. that has caused them harm or injury.

e.g. He was ordered to pay damages.

17. defamation (n.) – the act of causing harm to somebody by saying or writing bad or false things about them.

e.g. The company sued for defamation.

18. defendant (n.) – a person in a court of law who is accused of committing a crime, or who is being sued by another person.

e.g. A defendant is required to answer the complaint.

19. determine (v.) - to officially decide or arrange something.

e.g. The court determined that the defendant should pay the legal costs.

20. intervene (v.) – (in something) to become involved in a situation in order to improve or help it.

e.g. The President intervened personally in the crisis.

21. libel (n.) – a defamatory statement made in permanent form such as writing

e.g. He sued the newspaper for libel.

22. negligence (n.) – the failure to give somebody/something enough care or attention.

e.g. The accident was caused by negligence on the part of the driver.

23. nuisance (n.) – behavior by somebody that annoys other people and that a court of law can order the person to stop.

e.g. He was charged with causing a public nuisance.

24. obligations (n.) - something what you must do because you have promised, because of law

e.g. They reminded him of his contractual obligations.

25. outline the case (v.) – to give a description of the main facts or points involved in something.

e.g. The plaintiff outlined the case.

26. persuade (v.) - to make somebody believe that is true by giving them good reasons for doing it.

e.g . It will be difficult to persuade them that there is no other choice.

27. prove (v.) - to use facts, evidence, etc. to show that something is true.

e.g. They hope this new evidence will prove her innocence.

28. remedy (n.) – any of the methods available at law for the enforcement, protection, or recovery of rights or for obtaining redress for their infringement.

e.g. What’s my remedy in law in this case?

29. slander (n.) - a defamatory statement made by such means as spoken words.

e.g. He’s suing them for slander.

30. sue (v.)- to make a claim against somebody in a court of law about something that they have said or done to harm you.

e.g. They threatened to sue if the work was not completed.

31. suit (n.)- a claim or complaint against somebody that a person or an organization can make in a court of law.

e.g. He filed a lawsuit against his company.

32. tort (n.) – a wrongful act or omission for which damages can be obtained in a civil court.

e.g. There are important differences between torts and crimes.

33. tortfeasor (n.) – one who commits a tort.

e.g. The police cannot take any action unless the tortfeasor commits a certain crime.

34. tortious (adj.) – having the nature of a tort/ wrongful.

e.g. The plaintiff has to show that he has suffered an action recognized as a tortious one and he must show that has relation to the tortfeasor.

35. tresspass (v.) – to enter land or a building that you do not have permission or right to enter.

e.g. He told me I was trespassing on private land.