In the present day world of monetary economy making money seems to be our only religion and money is, of course, our God. I was amused to read an article in one of the American papers entitled Want to get rich fast? Sue someone. The paper quotes an expert in Britain who was approached by an American law firm to be an expert witness in one of their cases. He was told that they would sent one of their attorneies and an assistant to talk to him in London. He could then go to NewYork to depose in the court. The gentleman asked the firm's representative "would it not be cheaper to have him go to the States where he could talk to the attorney and depose at the same time?" The answer was " it is cheaper, but our suggestion permits us to bill our client for three trips." This is the American legal mind at work.



An old student of mine, a very famous brain surgeon had to operate on a road accident victim recently. The latter was deeply unconscious and he had a large blood clot in the brain. Since there were no relatives available the operation had to be done immediately. Everything went well and the patient went home happy. Then came the legal problem. The pateint's lawyers sued the doctor for manslaughter. He is supposed to have opened the patient's skull without his consent; I wonder how an unconscious patient could have given his consent at all!