The law, judges and lawyers are frequently subjects in the operas (Gilbert briefly practiced as a lawyer) and the operas have been quoted and otherwise mentioned in a large number of legal rulings and opinions. Some courts appear to reach approximately the same conclusions as Gilbert and Sullivan: "Where does this extraordinary situation leave the lower... Courts and State Courts in their required effort to apply the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States...? Like the policeman in Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance", their 'lot is not a happy one.'" A few refer to the law as shown in Gilbert and Sullivan as being archaic. The pronouncements of the Lord Chancellor in "Iolanthe" appear to be a particular favourite in legal quotations. One U.S. Supreme Court case even discussed a contempt citation imposed on a "pro se" defendant who, among other conduct, compared the judge to something out of Gilbert and Sullivan.