Tuesday, June 12, 2012

On Rapid and Readable Rendering of Judgments in the Federal Court

The Honourable ROGER T. HUGHES

Who says reading judgments need be tedious? And who says that one needs routinely to wait months or even years before they are rendered?

How about one that starts out:
1]               It was dark at Brigade Bay.  It was cold. The tide was dropping. The front end of the truck was in the water; the rear axle was on the barge. A rope was tied to the rear of the truck and attached to the tug in a desperate attempt to pull the truck onto the barge. Ed Menczel, the truck driver, went into the water a second time to release the air brakes on the truck so that it could be pulled up. As he did so, the barge swung. The truck toppled into fifty-five feet of water. Ed swam for his life. He reached shore and phoned his boss.
This has nothing to do with IP - other than the Judge who just wrote this is none other than Roger Hughes,  whose extraordinary influence as a trial judge in the Federal Court and as a leading barrister for decades earlier, and ongoing role as an author are legendary.

This highly readable 36 page judgement was delivered 11 days after the case was heard.  

I wonder if a Notice of Compliance case will ever be this gripping.
 
Happy reading....

HK

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