Book Opener

Corporate AttorneyKendall Meyer is a corporate and business law attorneyfor one of Chicago’s oldest law firms. He’s worked onhis share of “big” cases, but nothing quite as big as Sue.“Sue” is the nickname of the largest Tyrannosaurus Rexskeleton ever found. Two years after Sue’s 1990 discoveryin South Dakota, a dispute arose about who actually owned the fossil. After aseries of court cases, the landowner was allowed to sell the bones at auction.When Chicago’s world-renowned Field Museum of Natural History decided itwanted to bid on the bones, museum directors asked for help from the museum’soutside counsel, Kendall Meyer. Meyer first determined who owned legal titleto the bones—much like an attorney would when a client wants to buy ahouse. “I just asked classic legal questions in a unique context,” Meyer says.As the museum’s legal representative, Meyer was also involved in securingfunds for the new acquisition. Corporations such as Walt Disney WorldResorts and McDonald’s offered financial assistance to the museum to buy the65-million-year-old fossil skeleton. In the end, Sue was auctioned off in aneight-minute war of nerves between nine bidders. The winner—with an offerof $8.36 million—was Meyer’s client, the Field Museum of Natural History.SkillsPersonalityEducationAn understanding of basic business principles, research,negotiationSociable, outgoing, likable, enjoys working with businesspeopleBusiness, accounting, finance, contractsFor more information on corporate and business attorneys, visitubpl.glencoe.com or your public library.Example 4. While using the diving board at a public pool, Juliafell and was injured. The injury could have been avoided if thediving board had a guardrail. Julia later sued her state’sDepartment of Health, arguing that the department had inspectedthe pool but did not do anything about the missing guardrail.The state supreme court ruled against Julia. The court said thatthe state’s sanitary code gave the Department of Health the dutyto inspect water-related facilities for health problems, but not aduty to inspect for safety problems. Because there was no needto examine the other elements, the Department of Health had noduty to Julia.Chapter 4: The Law of Torts 89