The nature of litigation in this country means that our judges are not often presented with such rich material to entertain in their opinions. That’s not to say it is unheard of – some case law does contain seams of humor which lighten the tone. However, our American friends are known for being rather more active when it comes to bringing litigation proceedings giving greater opportunity for judges to show off their wit…

Lately we have had the highly respected US Appeals Judge Richard Posner, known for his dry humor, bring some entertainment to his opinion in a dildo patent case. And now another US judge, federal magistrate Wallace Dixon, has injected a bit of humour into his opinion recommending the dismissal of a case brought last year by Andrew Giuliani, 23, son of former NY Mayor, Rudi Giuliani. Giuliani claimed that Duke University breached a contract when it dropped him from the golf team in early 2008 but judge Dixon wasn’t so sure about that.

The opinion is littered with golf references…

This attempt to change arguments between the complaint and the brief is like trying to change clubs after hitting the golf ball — Plaintiff is stuck with the club (in this case the argument) that he first picked… Therefore, Plaintiff’s reliance on four student policy manuals as evidence of a contract is a swing and a miss.

…and even uses a quote from the comedy Caddyshack in which a delusional Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) dreams of winning a golf tournament…

Plaintiff’s promissory estoppel claim, which was not argued in his brief, brings to mind Carl Spackler’s analysis from the movie CADDYSHACK (Orion Pictures 1980): "He’s on his final hole. He’s about 455 yards away, he’s gonna hit about a 2 iron, I think." North Carolina does not recognize affirmative claims of promissory estoppel; thus, Defendants are entitled to a judgment on the pleadings.

Source .