Over the past year, we have written about criminal laws in Ohio as they stand in 2024. We plan to continue to do so in 2025. Sometimes it is difficult to discuss these laws in a straightforward way. Legal documents such as the section of The Ohio Revised Code. We do have some articles that showcase specific situations that showcase a certain legal concept, but many of our articles are more broad. And we realize it can be helpful to have specific situations where legal concepts apply. It is even more helpful if these situations are familiar. However, not every real life legal situation has much to do with the topic and hand. (Luigi Mangione doesn’t help us understand, say, OVI laws in Ohio.) But a situation does not have to be historical to be familiar. So here are 5 places where it would take sense to hire lawyers for Christmas characters in real life. Keep in mind that we will be looking at this from the perspective of Ohio laws, even though these stories don’t necessarily take place in Ohio.
1. George Bailey
This is probably an obvious one. Spoiler alert for It’s a Wonderful Life, the movie in which George Bailey is the protagonist. If you have seen the movie, it may seem obvious that the guy could use an attorney. He was facing jail time after all. But the movie only deals with one alleged offense. He is missing a large amount of money and the authorities think he may be abusing the funds from his investors. While the movie addresses this situation in detail, George commits few other crimes that would not go unnoticed real life.
Most notably, he crashes his car into a tree while driving under the influence and then leaves the scene of the crime. He would be facing some pretty serious charges just for that in Ohio courts, and his behavior after the accident would likely not help his case. When he comes back a few hours later and sees his car in the tree, he throws his hand up and shouts for joy. If you have seen the movie, you understand why he reacted this way, but it would not look good in front of a Prosecutor. So, even though Mr. Bailey may not have needed a lawyer for the financial charges, but let’s hope he hired an OVI attorney.
2. The Grinch
Some legal disputes can be solved outside of the courtroom even if someone has committed a crime. For example, a theft victim may (or may not) drop the charges if the offender returns the stolen property. This definitely seems to be what happens at the end of Dr. Seus’s beloved tale, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. In real life, The Grinch would not likely be so lucky. Ohio, for example, would only consider Whoville a village if it had a population of at least 1,600. And The Grinch, according to the story, stole almost every possession from every single one of them. Chances are there would be at least one stickler who took the case to Court, in which case The Grinch would need an attorney. And who knows? There may be a good defense somewhere in there for The Grinch.
3. Frosty The Snowman
If a traffic control officer needed to holler, “stop” at Frosty the Snowman, he was likely already in violation of ORC Section 4511.12 (or some similar law in place wherever he was). He may not have had any issues if he listened to the officer, but we know that he stopped for a moment and then kept going. This type of disobedience and fleeing of a police officer would be taken rather seriously in Ohio Criminal Courts. Most people would say that since he was an inanimate snow sculpture moments before, he should not be prosecuted for breaking the law. However, there is no law in Ohio that provides for that situation. While there may be a defense for Frosty, he should hire a lawyer to try to make that case.
4. Buddy the Elf
The 2003 film, Elf, is a little more realistic when it comes to the legal aspect. Buddy does face consequences for many of his actions. He even goes to jail. But, like many films, the justice system is not represented terribly accurately. While some lawyers are shown in the film, not of them directly represent Buddy for his criminal proceedings. In real life, this would be a good idea.
5. Santa Claus
Santa should have a lawyer, but who’s to say that he does not? He must need permits for covering the airspace over the entire world, and he deals with all kinds of merchandise, some of which could be dangerous in the wrong hands. And other things can come up, like in the Miracle on 34th Street sorry where Santa does hire his own attorney. We may not be the first thing you think about in most stories, but even Santa knows we come in handy.
Conclusion
We want to thank everyone who reads our posts and wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. This one was fun, and we did our best not to stretch anything too far. Sure, just about any character in any story could hire lawyers if their situation develops the right way, but we tried to find examples where it seemed particularly necessary to hire lawyers for Christmas characters. If there is a need for a Southwest Ohio lawyer in your story, feel free to contact Dearie, Fischer & Martinson.
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