19 September 2013

Article: Gilbert and Sullivan for Lawyers

Article: Kruger on Gilbert and Sullivan for Lawyers


Stephen Kruger's "Gilbert and Sullivan for Lawyers" in the Philosophy of Law eJournal (2013) is now available on SSRN.



One of the songs in The Mikado, by Gilbert and Sullivan, is “As Some Day It May Happen That a Victim Must be Found.” In the song, Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner, offers his list of Victorian “society offenders . . . who never would be missed.”

Usual practice, in present-day performances, is to update “As Some Day It May Happen” by mentions of present-day society offenders. The aim of an update is to make the song comprehensible by present-day audiences.

This essay offers an update of “As Some Day It May Happen,” with both legal references and social references. Among the legal references is, “And law profs who convey as truth the lies of Marbury.” Other legal references aren’t better.

In addition, this essay offers an update, with both legal references and social references, of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern General,” from The Pirates of Penzance, also by Gilbert and Sullivan. The legal references, such as to court-packing (Legal Tender Cases; President Roosevelt), should be, but are not, teachable moments.

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