Legally Correct Fairy Tales.

Legally Correct Fairy Tales by David Fisher is a small book suitable for the night-stand and easy to read after a long day at the office or in court. It is made up of 14 short presentations based on familiar fairy tales. Overall, it is an enjoyable book and some parts are great fun to read. The collection will leave you with a chuckle, even long after you've read the tales.

Fisher applies well-recognized laws to such classic tales as "Pinocchio," "The Emperor's New Clothes," and "Little Red Riding Hood." Take, for example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's concern for the Seven Dwarfs and Humpty Dumpty's medical malpractice claim.

Remember the law school exams that used the names of famous people or fairy tale characters as the parties to make the fact situation more entertaining (if that is possible in a law school exam)? Fisher's tales are similarly entertaining, but, thankfully, they are not presented in exam form.

Can a frog (a prince, of course) really sue the Wicked Witch to obtain a court order requiring her to remove the curse that fumed the prince into a frog? Yes! And, in the tale's kingdom, the courts have unlimited jurisdiction and the power to grant the relief (enjoining curses and the performance of other miracles) that some real-life litigants think the courts ought to have.

Some of the tales are quite exaggerated for effect, but on reflection they do not seem too remote from the tales actually presented in courtrooms. You may even conclude that some cases you are familiar with (but surely not your own cases) sound much like the Legally Correct Fairy Tales and may be source material for another book.

Although all the tales are cleverly written, some don't tickle as much as others do. If you read pleadings and trial briefs frequently, some of the tales may seem like yet another personal injury or products claim and so matter-of-fact that they are more "Grimm" than humorous.

The Jack and Jill story falls into that category because we have seen them and their allegedly defective pail "legalized" so often in law school and at seminars.

The "Kingdom v. Goldilocks" is a great parody of a recent famous trial that still occupies the news. The summation of the Kingdom's prosecutor in "Kingdom v. Prince Charming" is funny and offers another side to the Prince that is anything but charming.

If, after finishing this book, you read fairy tales or other stories to children, you may have to remind yourself not to expound upon the legal consequences of the actions of the characters.

Michael S. Walsh is a district judge, Third Judicial District, District Court of Iowa.