Katoria Lee, 35, was shot in the back by Eric Deown Riggins, 22, at the Riverdale Wal-Mart during a carjacking in March 2001. Riggins fired after Lee dropped her keys and ran for the car, managing to extract her sleeping 9-year-old son before her attacker drove away.

Lee’s lawyer, Lance Cooper, alleged that Wal-Mart had failed in its duty to provide adequate security for its customers, citing the 398 visits police had made to the store in the preceding 20 months.

“That should have been sufficient to put Wal-Mart on notice that crimes were being committed there,” said Cooper. “Also Wal-Mart had a policy to have security patrols but chose to not put them into place at that store.”

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The police figures were sure to be exaggerated by Wal-Mart’s zero-tolerance approach to shoplifting. Up until July this year, any theft of an item over $3 in value had brought automatic prosecution.

“We’re disappointed in the jury’s verdict but we respect the jury system,” said John Simley, a spokesman for Wal-Mart.

“We’re exploring our options, including whether or not to appeal.”

New Zealand going cheap

Despite being offered up to the highest bidder on eBay, Folklaw can assure its readers that New Zealand is most definitely not for sale.

An anonymous trader from Sydney advertised the Land of the Long White Cloud on the online bidding website for a measly one cent. By the time the regulators at eBay were alerted, 22 bids had been offered reaching $3,000.

“Clearly New Zealand is not for sale,” Daniel Feiler, Australian spokesman for eBay, said to the New Zealand Press Association.

Irregular items frequently appear on eBay. The site has even set up a category called ‘Weird Stuff’, in which a trader can sell goods that are ‘Slightly Unusual’, ‘Really Weird’ or ‘Totally Bizarre’. One such ad offered lost spells from 121 years ago, which were apparently “found in a real witch’s trunk. They really work”.

“It is mostly household items we have for sale, but there are the occasional quirky items put up. We have a look at them and if they are OK we leave them, but if it is something that can’t be sold, we take them off.”

Rumour has it that the Australian-based trader offered the country for sale in order to express his disapproval of Kiwis and their beloved homeland. He warned potential bidders the product they were trying to purchase was subject to “very ordinary weather”.

It’s all in the fine print

Ever had the feeling that you can’t get good help these days? If so, then you are not alone. Folklaw has been alerted to the most thorough advertisement for a receptionist position known to man. It appears that the staff members at one particular law firm are so tainted by bad experiences that they refuse to leave a single issue unaddressed in the search for receptionist gold. The following ad has been replicated exactly as it appeared at www.seek.com.au.

Legal Receptionist/Junior

Small CBD firm

Opportunity to get involved

Good supportive group

We are a small, well established law firm , with sunny modern offices in St Martins Tower, accross York St from the QVB. We are looking for someone who can act as our front of house person at reception, able to speak well and intellegently with whoever enters or calls the office, able to solve problems as they arise, actually knows how to produce documents on Word and similar programs without repeating common spelling errors, Able to assist with other tasks , including accurate financial data entry, ordering of supplies, payment of basic accounts, short attendances at court offices and government offices Someone who is prepared to see the position as a stepping stone to working in the law or other professional offices, and is prepared to attend on time , join in the work to be done each day, learn on the job, and be proactive.

Airheads , people only interested in getting any short term job, people with more interest in the latest fashion than their own brain and what it is capable of achieving- none of these people need apply. We have already experienced 2 such people in the last 4 months and that is enough. Hopefully there are some people out there prepared to make a commitment to something more meaningful for themselves and others.

Budgeting for booze

News from RollOnFriday is that firm Sullivan & Cromwell is providing its senior associates with $1,000 a year to get their junior colleagues drunk.

The annual entertainment budget is said to be “in recognition of the important role senior associates play in developing more junior associates and in fostering morale among team members”.

The firm’s website warns young career seekers they may be at risk of developing a healthy beer gut.

“We offer you the opportunity to be part of one of the world’s leading law firms. We offer you the opportunity to grow.”

Further allusions are made by the firm of substantial group drinking sessions.

“At Sullivan & Cromwell, you will become part of a team. You will receive substantial responsibility as soon as you can handle it.”

With a bar tab of a grand per five to eight year PQE staff, Folklaw doubts how responsible the drinking will be.

Belt your boss in China

The Rising Sun Anger Release Bar is proving a hit with patrons in Nanjing, eastern China, who relish the idea of beating its staff.

According to the China Daily, boozed up customers can pay an additional fee to strike the bar’s staff, break glasses and scream to their hearts’ content.

Patrons pay anywhere between 50 to 300 yuan ($8.30 to $49) for the chance to get violent. If they pay more, customers can request that staff dress up — popular choices being women’s clothing and outfits that strike a resemblance to the customer’s boss, the paper said.

“Pressure in today’s society comes from just about anywhere ... we get no place to vent our anger. The idea of beating someone decorated as your boss seems attractive,” businessman Chen Liang said to the newspaper.

The bar was opened by Wu Gong, 29, in April of this year, reportedly modelling it on similarly brutal bars in Japan. Gong employs an army of stout young men, provides protective gear and specialist training and then sets his customers loose on them.

Curiously, the watering hole has become unexpectedly popular with women employed in areas of hospitality and entertainment, such as massage parlours and karaoke bars, the paper said.

Dead loss for Yankee lawyers

A Los Angeles lawyer has been awarded over US$1 million in compensation after being sacked for attending a family funeral.

Laquer Urban Clifford & Hodge fired 12-year firm veteran Warren Snider for insubordination, after he violated the firm’s holiday leave policy by going to his father-in-law’s funeral service.

Snider was already unpopular at the firm for requesting a reduced work schedule due to an unavoidable 48-week liver disease treatment. Requesting no leave during this time, Snider continued to work, asking only for his monthly billable target of 150 hours to be reduced to around 140.

After only 4 months of the 11 month treatment program, Snider was fired for his selfish decision to console loved ones at the memorial service. The exemplary employee had never been disciplined, had received consistent raises and bonuses and was the only associate to reach the 150 hour target since it was introduced.

Snider successfully argued the firm had dumped him because it was unhappy with his reduced working hours. A jury awarded him US$989,886 ($1.29 million) for loss of earnings and US $105,000 ($137,380) for emotional distress. The firm had earlier rejected Snider’s settlement offer of US $450,000 ($588,770).