Our litigious society

[RadiomanATL]

Family of man hit by train suing railroad, canoe company

Mother suing canoe rental company and railroad company for her son being killed by a train after he climbed a train trestle while canoeing down a river.

 

[Madeline]

This likely is a meritless suit, Radioman. Some of the greatest minds in American Law have sought to end the scourge of meritless suits; if you have any bright ideas, let's hear them.

 

[Againsheila]

This likely is a meritless suit, Radioman. Some of the greatest minds in American Law have sought to end the scourge of meritless suits; if you have any bright ideas, let's hear them.

And they'll probably settle out of court. I met a man once who'd been in a car accident. He was a passenger and he was drunk, the driver was drunk. His uncle was a lawyer. They sued the drunk driver's insurance company, then they sued the drunk driver's dad's insurance company as it was the dad's car and now they were suing the parents of the kid that held the party. He looked at me shocked when I said, "Don't come near my house".

He said "Why, I'm gonna be rich!"

I said, "yeah, but you might trip on my front porch and sue me." I don't want you anywhere near me. People like that should be made pariahs of society.

Oh, and my bright idea....quit settling out of court. By law, if you lose the case you have to pay ALL the court costs. If the big insurance companies stop settling out of court and start taking it all the way, these people will lose and the stupid lawsuits will stop.

 

[Madeline]

That is a feel-good solution, Againshelia. But not only do out-of-court settlements serve legitimate needs (and are perfectly legal), the courts cannot possibly hear every case.

Maybe we should increase the jurisdiction of small claims courts to $25,000 so people can sue for these petty claims without a lawyer.

 

[Douger]

I can show you the source of the problem.
Grab a phone book and open to lawyer.
See anything common amongst this group of peers ?

 

[Madeline]

There are greedy doctors, too. Shall we call a halt to the practice of medicine?

 

[Againsheila]

That is a feel-good solution, Againshelia. But not only do out-of-court settlements serve legitimate needs (and are perfectly legal), the courts cannot possibly hear every case.

Maybe we should increase the jurisdiction of small claims courts to $25,000 so people can sue for these petty claims without a lawyer.

It wouldn't take many cases that go through the court process where the claimants lose before the lawyers stop bringing up the stupid cases in the first place. As long as they settle out of court, it encourages frivolous lawsuits.

Heck my mother was sued one for a car accident that was clearly the other guys fault. The insurance company settled out of court, my mom didn't want that. Then, they had the gall to raise her insurance rates, when she questioned them, they said they had to pay out for the accident. She said it was the other guys fault and they decided to settle out of court rather than fight and if they didn't put her rates back down to what they were SHE was going to sue them. They did.

 

[Madeline]

Ya, that happened to me as well. The interests of your insurance company are not yours...if it costs them $5,000 to litigate but only $3,000 to settle, they will settle...and pass the costs on to you.

 

[RadiomanATL]

if you have any bright ideas, let's hear them.

Pointing and laughing her out of court would be a good start. If more judges did that, I have a feeling that fewer dumbass suits like this would be brought.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Family of man hit by train suing railroad, canoe company

Mother suing canoe rental company and railroad company for her son being killed by a train after he climbed a train trestle while canoeing down a river.

Keep this up, radioman, and I will sue ya.

 

[RadiomanATL]

Family of man hit by train suing railroad, canoe company

Mother suing canoe rental company and railroad company for her son being killed by a train after he climbed a train trestle while canoeing down a river.

Keep this up, radioman, and I will sue ya.

I'll counter-sue.

Wanna settle out of court?

 

[JakeStarkey]

Where is the fun in that? Though my wife is urging me to accept your offer.

 

[ConHog]

if you have any bright ideas, let's hear them.

Pointing and laughing her out of court would be a good start. If more judges did that, I have a feeling that fewer dumbass suits like this would be brought.

Here's a solution. We have grand juries to decide if there is enough evidence to indict someone of a crime, why not grand juries to see if there is a case in these situations to. 3 member panel that reviews a case and either passes it onto the court system if it's valid or tosses it.

 

[RadiomanATL]

Where is the fun in that? Though my wife is urging me to accept your offer.

Fine. I'll settle out of court for $24,000 in your suit, and on my counter-suit I'll accept a $25,000 settlement.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Jeez, radioman, my wife says you are a tough bargainer, but that we should consider the offer carefully.

 

[RadiomanATL]

Jeez, radioman, my wife says you are a tough bargainer, but that we should consider the offer carefully.

Think it over. I might even tell you where Ravi lives....

 

[JakeStarkey]

Hmmm. . . . maybe we should give you an extra thousand back.

 

[judyd]

This is really sad. A decent attorney would have gently told the mother that the fault was her son's, not anyone else. She is obviously floundering, trying to get it straight in her head. That has to be one of the worst ways to hear that your child died. It's curious why she didn't sue his friends who were apparently the ones who instigated the jump--it sounds like he was afraid to jump and tried to outrun the train.

 

[George Costanza]

I can show you the source of the problem.
Grab a phone book and open to lawyer.
See anything common amongst this group of peers ?

Lawyers have not always been allowed to advertise. I can't remember when that restriction was lifted - I think it was in the early to mid 1970's.

I was very much against it at the time. Still am. The reason I was so opposed to it is now quite evident. The slime ball lawyers all came out from under their rocks and set up shop in the Yellow Pages. Basically, the bigger the ad, the slimier the lawyer.

I wish they would once again prevent us lawyers from advertising.