Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Scam Artist-Type Law Suits Clog Court System

--Seemingly Endless parade of frivolous Suits Continue Unabated

Never go to bed angry; stay awake and plot your revenge.

This is a mindset many trial lawyers continuously promote among clients in their quest to engender more law suits. Scam artist stuff? Frivolous law suits? you ask. The court system is currently drowning in such activity.

Take a gander at some of these examples and decide for yourself the merits:

> New York orthopedic surgeon sues athletic footwear giant, Nike, for $10,000,000. Claim is shoelace on right sneaker hooked on back tab of left sneaker, causing the doctor to fall resulting in a wrist injury that threatens her career as a surgeon. Like the Nike spokesman routinely noted, "Sometimes people don't tie their shoes properly." Much like being a politician: To succeed, it's often necessary to rise above your principles. Scam artists' tactics?

> Class action law suit is filed against the manufacturer of breakfast cereal, Cheerios, over a food additive, with no evidence that it has ever caused any injury to any consumer. The consumers--plaintiffs in the law suit--receive a free box of cereal. The lawyers are paid $2,000,000. When asked by an aggressive class-action lawyer to jump as the old saw goes, many businesses will merely say, "How high?"

> Atlanta Journal-Constitution music writer is notified of legal action against him for having the temerity to use his own name, which is the same name as former Rolling Stones bassist, Bill Wyman. An attorney sends the journalist a letter stating, "I must ask that you immediately cease and desist from authorizing use of our client's name." Irony is that the real name of the Rolling Stones bassist is not even Bill Wyman--this is but a stage name--but William Perks (a far cry). Sued for using your own name? If a rabbit's foot is so lucky, what does that say about the luck of the rabbit?

> New York woman is awarded $14,100,000 after she is hit by a subway train. When it becomes known that she had been trying to commit suicide and had been patiently lying on the tracks, waiting for the train, the award was cut 30%. She had to settle for a paltry $9,900,000 for her injuries. Perhaps she was practicing Clarke's Second Law: The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.

> A California attorney sues GTE Directories for $100,000 after the publisher mistakenly lists her name and phone number under the heading, "Reptiles." It is claimed she is subject to many jokes and hissing sounds when she walks by groups of associates.

> A California nudist, whose feet were burned while he was walking on a pit of red hot coals, files a lawsuit against the event organizers for assuring him that the fire walk would not burn his feet, would be entirely safe. It's said gullibility stretches far--like a rubber band. But, how far is far?

> In still another suit against deep-pockets fast food giant, McDonald's, a couple sues over damaged teeth suffered by the husband--from a bagel. Wife's "lost care, comfort, consortium, and society of her husband" is also cited as cause for deep, mental suffering. (Could this have been a 30-day old bagel?)

Often the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones who do.
So, what better moral to a story than to say, simply, stay out of the line of fire. Don't get caught in the insanity of a fabricated lawsuit spun out of whole cloth which houses nothing more than a warped idea, a scam artist lawyer, and a greedy plaintiff.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Never go to bed angry, stay awake and plot your revenge. That's priceless. What a way to begin a post, it really wakes you up.

Anonymous said...

A toothpick my niece was using in a McDonald's broke off and embedded. This gave her a horrible gum infection that her dentist had a hard time clearing up. I wonder if she could sue McDonald's for one hundred million dollars.

Anonymous said...

These ridiculous suits sicken me. I wish something could be done to stop them.

Jack Payne said...

A toothpick, Ione? A toothpick? Hard to believe.

Jack Payne said...

Warren, about the only thing that can be done--and it is highly effective--is what the British have done. That is adopt "Loser Pays" rules.

I've talked about this many times. It is highly effective because it makes these aggressive trial lawyers and their go-for-broke clients, stop, hesitate, think twice about filing a nutty, meritless suit.
When they must consider, "What if I lose this suit? I will have to cough up the attorney fees and court costs for the other side."

This would be the simple way to quickly repair our currently broken system. Far fewer of these suits would even be filed in the first place under it.

Da Old Man said...

Your mention of greed, both on the part of plaintiff and lawyer reminds me of a relative of a relative story. She was injured at work, a legitimate injury, albeit in a job that didn't pay well, at leasst not like a surgeon or some such. Woman is in her 50's, not all that far from retirement. If she worked until 70, she would have made maybe another million, at the absolute most. She was offered an obscene amount of money--many millions, it was at least 14 million because of her "pain and suffering." In her mind, she had the money spent, offering to set up her kids for life, and so on.
Her and her attorney scoffed at this "piddling amount." They knew they could get much more than the 14 mil.
Went to trial. She wished she took the initial offer. Wound up with much less than a million awarded by the judge. Once in a while, the right people win.

Anonymous said...

I'd already copied the quote before I saw that warren had already used it.
(grounds for legal action?)

"Never go to bed angry; stay awake and plot your revenge."

It's one of the best quotes I've seen in a while.

Thanks for visiting last night (and for the fun) - As Arnold Schwartzenegger says: I'll be back

henry

Anonymous said...

Oh yes...I didn't realise we had Loser Pays rules over hear...I'm not really well versed in legal matters.

henry

Anonymous said...

If a rabbit's foot is so lucky, what does that say about the luck of the rabbit? This has to be my favorite quote this time around.

Anonymous said...

Can't these people stay in step with what the law is supposed to be? It's terrible how out of pace they be.

Jack Payne said...

Yeah, Old Man, every once in a while a level headed judge puts things in the proper perspective. The guys in the white hats sometimes win. I've seen many cases where the overconfidnt laywer outsmarted himself by holding out for a trial over a lucrative settlement offer, only to be severly downgraded by the verdict and award.

Jack Payne said...

I guess the "luck of the rabbit" does have to be put into question, eh, Terry?

Anonymous said...

I can't quite get over getting sued for using your own name. For some reason that one really sticks in my craw.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with Gene. Getting sued for the use of your own name is outrageous.

Barry said...

OK, I understand scam lawyers and greedy clients. Why is it we have brain dead judges and juries?

Swubird said...

Con Man:

I love them all. I especially love it when attorneys are listed as reptiles. So what's the problem with that? Everybody knows they're snakes.

Great post, and great examples.

Happu trails.

Jack Payne said...

Barry, brain-dead judges are lawyers--generally, they "go along" with the strategy and tactics of their brethren, from sheer background, training, and habit.

As for juries, witness the intelligence / educational level of the average" jury--average" that is; every jury has at least a few brillliant, exceptional people. but normally not enough to sway a decision. These juries are usually easily influenced by skilled lawyers.

Jack Payne said...

Ya know, Swu, when I wrote that I didn't even think of the association. Attorneys / reptiles.
Hmmm! Thanks for pointing this out.

Jack Payne said...

Ya know, Swu, when I wrote that I didn't even think of the association. Attorneys / reptiles.
Hmmm! Thanks for pointing this out.

Anonymous said...

You're stuttering, Jack...you have two posts in a row, out of three.

Anonymous said...

Great line Terry :)

h.

Anonymous said...

It boggles my mind what these scam artist can get away with and do get away with. Then it also boggles my mind how much these lawyers make handling these cases. I am in the wrong business and lawlessness is everywhere. Unbelievable.