Evidently not feeling “dissed” by a dose of rap lyrics in a legal brief, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals has overturned a $3,750 attorney fees award against a jazz musician representing himself in a custody dispute.

Gregory Royal resorted to rap after a La Crosse County Circuit Court judge found him liable for filing a frivolous suit related to the custody battle in federal court and ordered him to pay the legal costs of one of the defendants, attorney Peter B. Sayner.

“Appellant respectfully submits this reply brief utilizing rap/rhyme in the argument topics to better emphasize strong concept points,” Royal told the appeals court in a six-page brief that includes six rhyming rap couplets.

The court did not mention the lyrics in its unpublished decision, but Royal believes they helped him win a reversal. “Imagine a real attorney who can actually capitalize and perfect that expression and throw some heavy stuff in there,” he told the Associated Press. “It's like Einstein's theory of relativity. It's so short but so perfect there's nothing you can say about it.”

The “heavy stuff” in Royal's brief includes the couplet, “Regarding frivolous filings, one thing is clear, Notice to show cause and proper service before you appear.” He goes on to explain that Sayner did not serve him with the motion for attorney fees and Judge Dale T. Pasell did not issue a notice before sanctioning him.

Royal, a trombone player who once lived in Onalaska, Wis., filed his federal suit in November 2007, alleging members of a “custody assessment team” (CAT) violated his rights in preparing a report submitted to the family law court in an effort to help resolve the custody dispute. Sayner, the guardian ad litem for Royal's children, was part of the team.

After U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb ruled she had no jurisdiction to hear a “domestic relations” dispute and dismissed the federal suit, Sayner asked Pasell to grant him the costs of his defense. The other CAT members, who had separate representation, did not take similar action.

According to Royal's brief, Sayner argued the federal suit was frivolous because the “domestic relations” exception to federal jurisdiction is widely known. Royal challenged that by rhyming:

A domestic relations exception, I was supposed to know.
Appellee would know too, so why did he spend so much doe?

He also used his lyrics to emphasize that Sayner was not entitled to anything more than the $2,400 guardian ad litem fee:

Appellee under statute was paid his compensation.
He seeks reimbursement and costs for outside re-numeration.

With the appeals court finding that Pasell did not have authority to make Royal pay fees, Royal can now go after Sayner for his costs. He says he has already asked for $800.

Resorting to rhyme is not without precedent in legal writing. In a June 2008 ruling, for example, a federal judge in Philadelphia used the limerick form to explain a decision against the Limerick Golf Club and, as On Point reported in September 2007, a New Hampshire judge responded Dr. Seuss-style to a plaintiff in a prisoner rights case who sent him a hard-boiled egg.

By Matthew Heller
1/27/09