Legal Research

Very Short Stories

By Simon Fodden

I’m having to scan through a lot of search results in CanLII, looking for cases that might be appropriate to include in some teaching materials, so I’m paying attention to the five keywords or phrases that are used to classify the various judgements (about condominiums in Ontario, as it happens). Some of the five-word clusters — “pentalogs”? — provide an intriguing narrative arc, if not quite what I’m looking for, and I found myself imagining what might have underlain these very short stories. Herewith some examples:

• caveat emptor ? bulldozer ? latent defect ? leak ? purchaser
• spousal support ? property ? divorce ? brother-in-law ? sailing
• front hall closet ? location of the furnace ? fundamental change ? vendor’s actions ? cathedral
• motion ? bubble tea ? dumplings ? snack ? mediation
• cartoons ? bags ? drawings ? abandonment ? garbage

Do you have any “plogs” that tell a tale?

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on February 25, 2008 (boomark / email).