From: Enrichment - Restitution & Unjust Enrichment Legal
Issues <ENRICHMENT@LISTS.MCGILL.CA> on behalf of Robert Stevens
<robert.stevens@LAW.OX.AC.UK>
Sent: Monday 23 October 2023 12:01
To: ENRICHMENT@LISTS.MCGILL.CA
Subject: Re: [RDG] Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago v
Trinsalvage Enterprises Ltd.
As most laypeople pick up what legal English they have from US legal
dramas on TV and film, the only people who use “claimant” and not “plaintiff”
are lawyers familiar with the Woolf reforms. Thereby, somewhat ironically,
creating a dissonance between legal usage and that of ordinary people. (And
between the past and the present; and between this common law system and of
others).
“The claimant claims” is also just uglier than “the plaintiff claims”.
However, looking at Lionel’s list, I think I’d probably just ditch
“chose in action.”
See pp 5-7
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4416200
From: Enrichment - Restitution & Unjust
Enrichment Legal Issues <ENRICHMENT@LISTS.MCGILL.CA>
On Behalf Of Lionel Smith
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2023 10:53 AM
To: ENRICHMENT@LISTS.MCGILL.CA
Subject: Re: [RDG] Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago v Trinsalvage
Enterprises Ltd.
Steven
said: “(Speaking for myself, claimant is a superior term to plaintiff, for the
same reasons that we now use English rather than Law French.)”
But many
English words (arguably all of them) come from other languages .. and if the
oldest example of “plaintiff” being used in English in the OED is 1325, the
oldest “claimant” is only 1747.
Moreover if
we want to get rid of Law French words and expressions, we will need to get rid
of defendant, tort, fee simple, laches, lien, bailiff, attorney, chose in
action, chattel, escrow, estoppel, mortgage, jury, cy-près, etc.
Lionel
====
This message was delivered
through the Restitution Discussion Group, an international internet LISTSERV
devoted to all aspects of the law of unjust enrichment. To subscribe, send
"subscribe enrichment" in the body of a message to <listserv@lists.mcgill.ca>. To
unsubscribe, send "signoff enrichment" to the same address. To make a
posting to all group members, send to <enrichment@lists.mcgill.ca>.
The list is run by Lionel Smith <lionel.smith@mcgill.ca>.
====
This message was delivered
through the Restitution Discussion Group, an international internet LISTSERV
devoted to all aspects of the law of unjust enrichment. To subscribe, send
"subscribe enrichment" in the body of a message to <listserv@lists.mcgill.ca>. To
unsubscribe, send "signoff enrichment" to the same address. To make a
posting to all group members, send to <enrichment@lists.mcgill.ca>.
The list is run by Lionel Smith <lionel.smith@mcgill.ca>.