A SHORT PLAY ESPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD

( Inside a packed courtroom a perplexed judge questions the main defendant )

Judge : I take it the plaintiff is suing the bridge club committee for reinstatement and/or damages ?
Chairman : Well , that is absolutely right. The fool can't sue the club but it is not a legal entity ....being an unincorporated  association of bridge lovers and devotees. The plaintiff therefore can only sue the committee members , who he alleges wrongfully expelled him from the club
Judge : Yes....that makes good sense , but can I assume  that if he is successful , then you and the other committee members will all be personally liable to pay all his costs and any damages awarded ?
Chairman : Good Lord no.......that would be terrible. The club would have to find the money to pay all the legal costs 
Judge : But you said the club isn't a legal entity ....and that only the members are in a position to sue or be sued. This means it is the members' responsibility to meet any financial obligations imposed upon the unincorporated association they belong to..... which of course goes under the name of a bridge club
Chairman : That's right....it will be the ordinary members who are obliged pick up the legal bill.......not the chosen few who sit on the committee
Judge :That's a neatest arrangement I've ever come across. You foul up but it's others who will have to pay.
Chairman : No....no....you've got it all wrong. Any money which has to be paid will be taken from club funds. The members themselves don't actually have to dig into their wallets and purses. They just sit back and watch the club's assets wither away to nothing
Judge : Like seeing their investments losing money in a stock market crash ?
Chairman : Correct.....and yes....real cash for sure will disappear from from the club's accounts but for each and every member their individual loss is purely a paper one
Judge : I'm amazed....
Chairman : But at least you're getting the picture now. The plaintiff....the silly bugger ....has to suffer real financial pain to meet his excruciatingly high legal costs.........while our personal liability is nil..... all because of the absurdity of belonging to a club which in law doesn't exist , which then exposes all the members as guarantors of any debts which we the committee may have negligently incurred
Judge : Yes.....a very neat and concise summing up of the law