When did people started suing each other for everything.

[hothead]

Shakespeare was right when he said, "First thing, let's kill all the lawyers."

OK, so that's extreme, but so is suing over coffee that is too hot.

 

[RationalLunacy]

What happened to accepting an apology? To common sense?

Not that I´m being sued, mind you

It´s just that some cases seem ridiculous, like suing your doctor.

Dr. Welby: I have some bad news for you, Mrs. Smith. When I performed surgery on your husband yesterday, I accidentally left a scalpel inside him, and he died of internal bleedling last night. I'm really sorry.

Mrs. Smith: Oh, that's OK -- I forgive you.

 

[Ohiospeedo]

What happened to accepting an apology? To common sense?

Not that I´m being sued, mind you

It´s just that some cases seem ridiculous, like suing your doctor.

You stole my idea for your screen name...I had that copyrighted. You sir, I will see in court!

 

[timnmostud]

I don't know when it started, but I think it continues due to some really high profile ridiculous settlements.

There are a LOT of legitimate cases that need to be heard. On the ohter hand, we do have a lot of lawyers that are willing to take almost any case no matter how stupid. The underlying problem is that many cases are settled out of court rather than drag it on and pay attorneys for years, many times it is financially easier to pay someone off than pay more in the long run to win a case. As long as lawyers are willing to take cases for a percentage of the settlement, this will continue. Too many of them know that if they persue it there will at least be some sort of settlement that they can get a prt of.

Tort reform is badly needed in this country. Unfortunately, that can backfire in setting unreasonably low limits. If someone is injured in some way by someone else's negligence, it can be okay to sue them for damages. HOWEVER!!!! I do agree that common sense has been pulled out of the equation. This is why you see stupid warning labels on everything, such as not to use your blow dryer in the bathtub or that balloons are not to be used as life pereservers. My favorite is not to hang off of roll towels in machines in public bathrooms. REALLY! If one is stupid enough to do these things, maybe it would be best if they didn't survive to reproduce more idiots!

 

[willsboy84]

i remember watching a special awhile back on various stupid lawsuits. there was a guy who sued a bike company because they didn't include an advisement that bike riding at night without proper lights would be dangerous, and apparently he did just that and got ran down.

there was couple who i think tried to sue amtrak because they'd been clipped by a train while fuckin on the tracks. and everyone knows about the dumb bitch who sued McD's over getting burnt by their coffee

 

[nitish]

There's nothing wrong with suing. Sure, there are frivolous law suits but that's not enough of a reason to saying people shouldn't be able to sue. Also, frivolous law suits get media coverage, while the many legitimate ones are conveniently ignored. This is like focusing on the ones that abuse welfare. I've discovered that half of the law suits that are being ridiculed are actually legitimate. Although most suers get carried away with the amount of money they ask for, and the reasons for suing.

 

[gsdx]

"Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching! Let that cash register ring!" - Judge Marilyn Milian

There have always been 'ambulance chasers', but, many years ago, it was deemed proper that lawyers could advertise on television. Now, if you notice the commercials, you never see ads for reputable firms. All you see are ads from ambulance chasers saying, "Get the money you deserve."

It's easier to get rich through the courts than it is through the lotteries.

 

[Orlandude]

As others have said, existing laws and lawyers are to blame. It is one thing to sue over gross negligence like RationalLunacy's example. But here are WAY too many frivilous suits allowed in the courts, mostly precipitated by greedy lawyers who have made a business of slapping judgments on people for everything imagineable. Their hope is that some of those judgments will pay off.

 

[Shepherd 2]

The Garden of Eden.
Abel's son was a lawyer.
Shep+

 

[herenthere]

The pressure to sue is amazing...

I posted a thread not long ago on this. I bet I have been asked a 100 times if I planned to file a suit. I have even been contacted by three lawyers..

Yes, there was loss of life in my accident, but sueing is not going to help that kind of loss.

When one substains injuries that will change there life, yes I think compensation is due, when one loses their ability to make a living, function, or live their life to the fullest I think a settlement is in order.

I still have the physical ability to carry on..and money will not heal emotional pain.

I think it almost boils down to a moral issue..easy money for no reason is just flat wrong.. Only by the grace of God, that it was not me that crossed the line...we are all human..we all make mistakes.

Just my thoughts

 

[metta]

The problem is that we have way too many lawyers....

It is the lawyers that have made society sue happy...

They need to keep working so that they can earn their $300 to $2000/ hour fees.

 

[LarsVenice]

There are plenty of times when gross negligence goes unpunished as well, such as the time when my brother died at childbirth because the doctor was listening to the World Series on a transistor radio instead of paying attention. The baby strangled on its umbilical cord, but if the doctor had been paying attention, he could have saved the baby. My family did not sue.

My other brother was standing next to a space heater in the first grade before class started while the teacher was out in the courtyard gossiping with other teachers instead of supervising the children. His coat caught on fire and he ran out of the room, since he had never been taught what to do in case of fire. He lost fingers on his right hand from trying to unzip the burning coat. He also got third degree burns over much of his body and almost died. The teacher was negligent because she was not doing her job supervising children, but my family did not sue the school. They did sue the coat manufacturer for making a coat out of fabric that was so highly flammable.

 

[Soilwork]

Apparently, although law suits continue, the amounts of payouts are WAY down because the insurance companies just won't play ball anymore.

When I was in my motorcycle accident, I was thrown from my bike, my bike was totaled, I slid on my face for 10 feet, I was rushed to the hospital, I was bleeding all over the street and I had three bones in my neck thrown out of alignment.

After my lawyer and the "specialists" that he sent me to had their cut, I got like a grand. Quite a far cry from 3 million dollars for hot coffee.

If I had to do it again, I'd not do it at all. It was just way too much trouble and to be honest, it made me feel a little dirty.

 

[Marbas]

20 years ago I was run down by a motorcyclist whilst I was on a pedestrian crossing with the lights in my favour. I ended up with a broken leg, broken arm, and busted bones in my left hand, which pretty much put paid to my dreams of ever being a 'great' guitarist.

When all the legal shite had been dealt with, and everyone else had taken their slice, I was awarded the princely sum of £1,500.

Like Soil, I feel like I shouldn't have bothered wasting my time pursuing the claim.

 

[sebastian-k]

"When did people started suing each other for everything."

I think that pretty normal in the US or at least that the way it seems to be.

 

[Paws]

Dr. Welby: I have some bad news for you, Mrs. Smith. When I performed surgery on your husband yesterday, I accidentally left a scalpel inside him, and he died of internal bleedling last night. I'm really sorry.

Mrs. Smith: Oh, that's OK -- I forgive you.

Aspiring professional musician: "Hey, about the new demotape sent you, will you sign me?"
Them: "No, but we used your instrumentals for the new album of another musician on our label. It will be out next week."
Aspiring professional musician: "Cool. Will I get paid or credited for it?"
Them: "No."
Aspiring professional musician: "Awww... oh well. Nevermind. Bye."
Them: "Bye."


There are some people out there I'd like to sue because of defamation, humiliation (like the one radio host co-worker who used every moment to do so, or some classmates at "art" school) and oppression, but I don't have the money for that

It pisses me off being taunted by straight, snobby co-workers because I'm gay, of foreign nationality and lower class, while the boss sympathizes with them and promotes them for doing so.

I still want to see these people being murdered

I can absolutely understand when a person wants to sue because he/she is being satirized and defamed in the medias, while the person who did the "joke" is getting all the fame, sympathy and even earn their money through making fun of others! Many victims can't lead a relaxed life afterwards because of their stigma

 

[Swellegant]

I think we should go back to Trial by Combat: instead of arguments and evidence, make the lawyers slap each-other silly.

 

[maxpowr9]

OK I have a funny story on this.

My brother was in a car accident a few years ago and he was at fault. It was not a major accident as there was no "physical damage" to any person. He paid the damages for the vehicle as was estimated but then about 3 months later, we get a letter from a lawyer saying that he is being sued for "mental trama" from the accident. I think he wanted something like $3k for it. Seriously comeon. Thank god the jury sided with my brother on this. Im sure the jury just found this case to be so ridiculous. I think the settlement was the guy paying our legal fees. People may sue other people over stupid things. You have to hope that the jury realizes that sometimes people are just greedy and these people should be stopped.

 

[valis23]

Some states -including Arkansas, I'm happy to say- have "Good Samaritan" laws on the books. They protect those who are genuinely trying to help someone in distress, even if their attempt causes damage.

 

[JackFTwist]

People started suing each other probably before pre-literate times, since much of the first recorded literature is in fact court records from civil suits - it is preferable to people shooting it out in the streets -

the McDonalds coffee case is far more complex than the idiotic reviews of it by morning shock jocks and entertainment tonight - McDs deserved to be sued and deserved to lose big.