Sandy makes a living doing stunts for movies.
She earns about $100,000 a year. Almost all stunt people stop
doing that line of work at around age 40, because it is physically
extremely demanding. Most of them continue in the movie business
and get jobs as extras or as actors who make brief appearances in
films. Typically they earn around $50,000 a year doing so.
Because they have excellent connections, it is relatively easy for
stunt people to make this move.
One day Sandy is injured while rock climbing with
some friends. They take her to the emergency room. Because
of the negligence of the doctor, she suffers a permanent injury to her
right leg. After two surgical operations she can walk normally,
and is fine otherwise, but the damage to her leg makes it impossible
for her to continue doing stunts. So, at age 30, she stops
working as a stuntwoman.
Sandy decides to make the best of a bad
situation. Although she could make more money by getting a job as
an actor or extra, she is a good singer and has always wanted to be a
professional musician. So she starts singing in restaurants and
night clubs and makes around $25,000 a year. She plans to
continue indefinitely and it appears likely that she will continue
earning around $25,000 a year in the future.
On the advice of a friend, who is concerned about
her precarious financial situation, Sandy goes to a lawyer named
Larry. He files a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor
just before the statute of limitations runs out. At trial, the
doctor admits liability. The only issue is the remedy.
The judge awards Sandy $50,000 a year for her lost
earning capacity until she reaches age 65. From that amount he
deducts the $25,000 a year that she is earning, and likely will
continue to earn, as a professional singer, for a net amount of $25,000
a year until she reaches age 65 (35 years x $25,000=$875,000).
Feeling she deserved more money, Sandy is very upset
with lawyer Larry. Since she has a flexible work schedule, she spends
3-4 hours a day standing on the street in front of Larry's downtown
office holding a large sign that accuses him of taking a bribe from the
doctor's insurance company in exchange for bungling her case. Her
only evidence is the amount of the award. Larry has lost clients
as a result. He sues Sandy for defamation and obtains a
preliminary injunction ordering Sandy to "cease and desist all
picketing activities outside lawyer Larry's office, on the pain of a
$100 fine for each day she engages in such picketing."
The injunction is served on Sandy and at first she
is duly intimidated. But later she decides she is not going to
let a judge run her life and starts picketing at Larry's office
again. She pickets for two days before the police, at Larry's
request, arrest her and bring her before the judge, who holds her in
contempt, fines her $200, and tells her that she had better obey him or
it will cost her a lot of money. Sandy decides it's time to get
some legal advice from a different lawyer (that would be you).
Please analyze the following issues:
1. Was the judge
correct in awarding Sandy $25,000 a year until she reaches age
65? Do not discuss her medical costs, which were paid by the
defendant doctor. [about 50% of total essay points]
2. Is the injunction against Sandy
valid? [about 30%]
3. Assuming the injunction is not
valid, does Sandy have to pay the $200 fine? [about 20%]