{"id":485,"date":"2017-10-09T15:45:57","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T19:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/?p=485"},"modified":"2021-04-19T16:01:05","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T20:01:05","slug":"an-apology-law-that-actually-uses-the-word-apology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/an-apology-law-that-actually-uses-the-word-apology\/","title":{"rendered":"An &#8220;Apology&#8221; Law that Actually Uses the Word &#8220;Apology&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">We learn from a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mediate.com\/articles\/PollackPbl20170929.cfm\">posting at mediate.com<\/a> that Hong Kong has passed its version of what many jurisdictions refer to as an \u201capology law.\u201d The idea is to encourage apologies between litigants by making apologies inadmissible should the case go to trial. The article contrasts the more straightforward Hong Kong legislation, which actually defines \u201capology,\u201d and uses the word \u201csorry,\u201d with the \u201cmore circumspect\u201d California law, which makes inadmissible \u201c[t]he portion of statements, writings, or benevolent gestures expressing sympathy or a general sense of benevolence relating to the pain, suffering, or death of a person involved in an accident and made to that person or to the family of that person.\u201d (California Evidence Code Section 1160(a)). The Hong Kong law defines apology as, \u201can expression of the person\u2019s regret, sympathy or benevolence in connection with the matter and includes, for example, an expression that the person is sorry about the matter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Michigan\u2019s version of an \u201capology law,\u201d passed in 2011, uses language similar to California\u2019s in defining what is inadmissible. See MCL 600.2155. While California\u2019s so-called \u201capology law\u201d pertains to a person involved in an accident, Michigan\u2019s is limited to actions for medical malpractice. In contrast, the Hong Kong ordinance seems to apply to any \u201cmatter.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">As the article\u2019s author, Phyllis Pollack, who is apparently a mediator in southern California, notes, if courts and legislatures really want to encourage settlement, they could do more to protect and encourage apologies, using the new Hong Kong law as a model. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We learn from a posting at mediate.com that Hong Kong has passed its version of what many jurisdictions refer to as an \u201capology law.\u201d The idea is to encourage apologies between litigants by making apologies inadmissible should the case go to trial. The article contrasts the more straightforward Hong Kong legislation, which actually defines \u201capology,\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apologies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":486,"href":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions\/486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/abfifer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}