Whoever said lawyers only know how to dress in black and white would have been surprised to see at least one die-hard Liverpool fan from the legal fraternity unabashedly resplendent in all red, from head, nay, turban to toe, at the recent Liverpool-Team Singapore encounter at the National Stadium. And alongside him, his little boy, equally, in Dad's footsteps, donned in tomato-red. Other fans spotted comprised of lawyers and legal officers, but alas, in uninspiring office attire.

A Pig by any Other Name

Once in a while, we come across true life obiters that are stranger than fiction. Seen in Bradshaw v Unity Marine Corporation Inc 2001 WL 739951 (SD Texas), per Kent District Judge:

Before proceeding further, the Court notes that this case involves two extremely likeable lawyers, who have together delivered some of the most amateurish pleadings to ever cross the hallowed causeway into Galveston, an effort which leads the Court to surmise but one plausible explanation. Both attorneys have obviously entered into a secret pact - complete with hats, handshakes and cryptic words - to draft their pleadings entirely in crayons on the back sides of gravy-stained paper place mats, in the hope that the Court would be so charmed by their child-like efforts that their utter dearth of legal authorities in their briefing would go unnoticed. Whatever actually occurred, the Court is now faced with the daunting task of deciphering their submissions. With Big Chief tablet readied, thick black pencil in hand, and a devil-may-care laugh in the face of death, life on razor's edge sense of exhilaration, the Court begins ...

Despite the continued shortcomings of the plaintiff's supplemental submission, the Court commends plaintiff for his vastly improved choice of crayon - Brick Red is much easier on the eyes than Goldenrod, and stands out much better amidst the mustard splotched about the plaintiff's briefing. But at the end of the day, even if you put a calico dress on it and call it Florence, a pig is still a pig.

Maybe that explains why we, in Singapore, have practice directions governing every aspect of our litigation practice.