For Kipling Fans

Fans of Rudyard Kipling should read Riley Hill General Contractor, Inc. v. Tandy Corp, 303 Or 390, 396 n.4, 399 n.5, 737 P2d 595 (1987).  The court is tasked with analyzing the terms “clear” and “convincing.”  To do so, the opinion takes the reader back to Celtic times, adding one of Rudyard Kipling’s poems for a picturesque example of the Roman legions withdrawing from England, and journeys through the Norman invasion to current judicial decisions.  The opinion explains that “sometimes for clarity, sometimes for emphasis and sometimes in keeping with the bilingual fashion of the day, English lawyers joined synonyms.”  Id. at 397 (citation omitted); hence, “clear and convincing,” “free and clear,” final and conclusive,” etc.