Joan Collins has starring role in lawsuit

Reuter and Associated Press

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 were unfinishable 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 Joni Evans testified that in 1991, when she first read Collins’ manuscript, she 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 dull, primitive and rough. It was clichéd in plot.”

Collins’ attorney, Kenneth David Burrows, argued that the actress had submitted two complete manuscripts, A Ruling Passion, written in 1991 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 her 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.

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

Task 11. Work in pairs.

Role play

Situation

Thieves broke into Camera shop in Pushkin Street last night and stole photographic equipment. Police say the thieves appeared to know exactly what they were looking for. They took only the two most expensive cameras and some accessories and left the rest of the shop virtually undisturbed.

Procedure

Groups of four to eight are needed for this activity. In each group there should be two suspects and two or more police inspectors.

Role B – suspects – the instructions which will help you to prepare for the role play:

One of you has been contacted by the police about the break-in because you used to work part-time at the camera shop until recently. You left after a row with your boss about your wages.

You have nothing to do with the break-in of course, but the problem is you can’t tell the police where you really were that evening without getting someone else into trouble. In fact you and your friend spent the evening playing the guitar and singing at a local pub until midnight. You know and like the landlord of the pub and you know he could lose his license if the police discovered he had kept his pub open after the legal licensing hours (closing time is 11.00 p.m. in your town). You are determined not to mention the pub in case enquiries in order not to cause problem for the landlord.

Thus the problem is to find alibi, mislead the police. Wouldn’t you try to do it?

Role A – Police inspectors.

The owner of the shop suspects a former employee of his who left because of disagreement over pay.

You have contacted the employee who says he spent the whole evening with a friend who lives in the same house. You have also spoken to the two suspects neighbors. A woman who lives on the ground floor says she was woken at about 12.30 a.m. when her dog started barking. When she looked out, she saw the two coming in and she thinks one of them was carrying a large bag.

The Police inspectors decided to interview each of the suspects in turn about their activities between 8.00 p.m. and 12 p.m. that night.

Plan the set of questions you should ask in order to test the truth of their stories.

Save the question about the large “bag” until last.

Finally, you will have to decide whether to charge the suspects with the theft. Your task is to expose those who tried to deceive you.

While discussing the topic try to use lists of some phrases that are utilized to express different shades of meaning.

Task 12. Being a lawyer is regarded as one of the best professions in many countries. Think about what the different areas of specialization are, and which you would choose, or have chosen, and why. Make notes under the headings: choice of specialization; number of years of training; income expectations; responsibilities; kind of clients; need for foreign languages; likely challenges and opportunities. Add any other points that occur to you.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING