To discourage nuisance cases, the I.R.S. has an unwritten 80/20 rule, Mr. Keiser says, so if you estimate you have "less than a 20 percent chance of winning in court, forget it."

Judges very rarely hear nuisance cases.

Whether or not the residential tenancy preceded the noise problem, the nuisance case is stronger if there is a noise code violation.

One solution, according to Mr. Gerry, may be to treat the spill as a running nuisance case in which damages are re-examined and new payments made every few years.

And in the early morning of Nov. 25, undercover officers were back inside the strip club, building yet another public nuisance case against the newest Duran family business.

Injunctions are common in nuisance cases and in cases relating to privacy.

"They consider these nuisance cases, and the last thing Federal judges want are armed felony cases in their courts," he said.

Three episodes later, she hires him to defend her in a nuisance case and, after a brief game of cat and mouse, winds up dating him.

Individuals can also bring a statutory nuisance case to court.

Coase used the example of a nuisance case named Sturges v Bridgman, where a noisy sweetmaker and a quiet doctor were neighbours and went to court to see who should have to move.