If there’s just one thing I could say is most responsible for things costing what they do, it would be lawyers who file lawsuits on behalf of stupid people. That’s right, lawyers earn a good living making stupid people rich for being, well, stupid. They go to great lengths to make the comical sound reasonable which in the end protects people from the consequences of their own lack of good sense.
Think about it, we’ve all seen warning labels which just sounded crazy and thought to ourselves, why do they need to warn us about that? I’ll tell you why, because some dunce did that and it cost the company millions of dollars.
So as long as there are people willing to provide a precedent for a warning label on curling irons that reads, “for external use only”, there will always be a few extra bucks added to things to help pay for lawsuits. We really do need a “loser pays” stipulation added to our legal system.
Anyway, here’s a list of the top ten most ridiculous lawsuits of 2012, via Free Enterprise:
- Intoxicated Florida driver pleads guilty to manslaughter, then sues victim he killed
- Michigan woman files $5 million suit for the leftover gas still in her repossessed car
- 13-year-old Little Leaguer sued by spectator who got hit with baseball
- Maximum security inmate who went to jail with five teeth sues prison for dental problems
- Anheuser Busch sued when longneck bottle used as weapon in bar fight
- National Football League fan sues Dallas Cowboys over hot bench
- California restaurateur sued for disabilities act violations in parking lot he doesn’t own
- Colorado man wins $7 million blaming illness on inhaling microwave popcorn fumes
- $1.7 billion suit claims City of Santa Monica wireless parking meters causing health problems
- Bay Area parents sue school after their son was kicked out of honors class for cheating
Links to the full news stories from which these were drawn and the complete results of the poll can be found at http://facesoflawsuitabuse.org/polls-archive.
Sifting Reality 
I used to get the weekly updates from Faces of Lawsuit Abuse, but they would just get me irritated at the “everyone owes me” mentality of the people suing, as well as the unethical behavior of the lawyers accepting such cases and the stupidity of the judges who too often rewarded such nonsense!
Save me some time…did the plaintiffs in each of these cases win?
In a post of Dan T’s on the topic of how to shrink government, I broached the subject of lawsuits and the wacky warning labels that might result. To say that I was attacked might be too strong, but apparently, the justice system and tort reform, was seen as separate from the topic. I always thought that the courts were one part of our governmental system.
I don’t think they all won, but you’re right, the court system plays a role in how government acts. Think about all the people who complained so loudly (ironically) to official because it was their opinion that TV commercials were too loud. Congress acted. Environmentalists complain and sue and the government reacts with new regulations.
The courts and government are fingers on the same hand.
And now, the parents of one of the children who survived the CT massacre is sueing the state for $100 Million in damages.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2012/12/28/20458806.html
I hate to be a stick in the mud, kunoichi, but when people sue the state they in essence they are suing the taxpayers. I know you know this, bit it bugged me earlier when I saw it on twitter.
Reblogged this on the.current and commented:
Just had to share… since I am in law school and all.