Lawyer hits hole with mountainbike and sues

....
Plunging into a "hole in the ground, the depth, size and location of which
constituted an unusual danger" might sound like something that's all in a day's
(or five minutes') adventure for a mountain biker, except for one thing: Leone
is a lawyer. As one of the country's foremost legal experts explained to me, the
first thing first-year law students learn the first day of civil procedure is,
when you sue, "sue everything in sight."
....

http://tinyurl.com/43pql

Groan. Canada has typically lagged behind america in terms of
stupidity. This is a prime example. We are now apparently catching up
with american in terms of not being responsible for our own stupidity.
This week, a local columist Jerry Dellafamina published a list of
frivalous lawsuits from america. The winner, as a woman who bought a
35 foot winnebago. She was driving it on a highway, set the cruise
control at 75, and went to the back to make a sandwich. The winnebago
careened off the highway, rolled a bunch of times. She apparently
sucessfully sued winnebago for like 1.5 million for not having in their
instruction manual "you must be at the wheel of the vehicle when it is
in motion at all times.." C'mon people.. Smarten up. If you are that
dumb, just stay in your home or shoot yourself in the head to spare the
rest of us. Oh, runner up dumb lawsuit- A guy broke into a garage to
rob it, and somehow ended up stuck inside when the automatic door
failed. With no other way out, he remined inside for 8 days, living on
dry dog food and pepsi. He also sued for like 800,000...

bikeguy11968 wrote:
This week, a local columist Jerry Dellafamina published a list of
frivalous lawsuits from america. The winner, as a woman who bought a
35 foot winnebago. She was driving it on a highway, set the cruise
control at 75, and went to the back to make a sandwich.

See also http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp
--
Darin McGrew, , http://www.rahul.net/mcgrew/
Web Design Group, , http://www.HTMLHelp.com/

"When strong encryption is outlawed, only outlaws jvyy hfr fgebat rapelcgvba."

"bikeguy11968" wrote in message
oups.com...
Groan. Canada has typically lagged behind america in terms of
stupidity. This is a prime example. We are now apparently catching up
with american in terms of not being responsible for our own stupidity.
This week, a local columist Jerry Dellafamina published a list of
frivalous lawsuits from america. The winner, as a woman who bought a
35 foot winnebago. She was driving it on a highway, set the cruise
control at 75, and went to the back to make a sandwich. The winnebago
careened off the highway, rolled a bunch of times. She apparently
sucessfully sued winnebago for like 1.5 million for not having in their
instruction manual "you must be at the wheel of the vehicle when it is
in motion at all times.." C'mon people.. Smarten up. If you are that
dumb, just stay in your home or shoot yourself in the head to spare the
rest of us. Oh, runner up dumb lawsuit- A guy broke into a garage to
rob it, and somehow ended up stuck inside when the automatic door
failed. With no other way out, he remined inside for 8 days, living on
dry dog food and pepsi. He also sued for like 800,000...


Your "local columnist" has been had...both of the lawsuits you cite are
fabrications. They've been passed around as urban legends for many years,
with not a grain of truth.

"Smarten up", indeed.

GG

I'm not sure about the relative intelligence of Americans versus
Canadians but if the average Canadian actually believes the stories you
use to illustrate your point about U.S. tort litigation are *true* then
I'd say Canadians are at least equal to Americans in terms of
gullibility. Have you ever noticed how columnists and op/ed writers
seem to find these stories when WestLaw searches and other efforts
can't?
Regards,
Bob Hunt

In article
.com,
says...
Groan. Canada has typically lagged behind america in terms of
stupidity. This is a prime example. We are now apparently catching up
with american in terms of not being responsible for our own stupidity.
This week, a local columist Jerry Dellafamina published a list of
frivalous lawsuits from america.

Good thing he's a columnist and not a reporter, or he'd be in
trouble with his editors about now.

The U.S. has plenty of frivolous lawsuits, but those are some of
the most thoroughly debunked phonies.

http://www.truestellaawards.com/ is a site that researches the
truth of reported frivolous suits -- they've debunked many, but
have documented the truth of many more. And, unlike most
columnists, they include the gray areas that sometimes justify
what seems like an entirely frivolous suit.

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Books for Bicycle Mechanics and Tinkerers:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/bikebooks.html

Ben Kaufman wrote:
...
Plunging into a "hole in the ground, the depth, size and location of
which
constituted an unusual danger" might sound like something that's all
in a day's
(or five minutes') adventure for a mountain biker, except for one
thing: Leone
is a lawyer. As one of the country's foremost legal experts explained
to me, the
first thing first-year law students learn the first day of civil
procedure is,
when you sue, "sue everything in sight."
...

http://tinyurl.com/43pql


If the map graded that trail as "easiest" and it had some kind of big
hazard on it... I can kind of see the plaintiff's point. If he had
been on a red trail, ir even one that was not marked, it would be a
different story. He *might* have a point. Then again, the evidence
might show that the hole was nothing unusual, and he should have
assumed the risk.

The only indisputable fact here is that knee-jerking reactions like
"the suit MUST be unfounded" are just plain stupid.

GaryG wrote:
Your "local columnist" has been had...both of the lawsuits you cite
are
fabrications. They've been passed around as urban legends for many
years,
with not a grain of truth.

"Smarten up", indeed.

GG

How about..... "Woman sues McDonalds because her COFFEE WAS HOT"...did
she expect it to be COLD COFFEE???

or "Mother sues fast food restaurant because her kid is fat".

I have three lawyers. Which I use for various reasons, plus one lawyer
pal. Who I have only occasionally. ;-) Only kidding, maybe not...yea
only kidding.

They are so freakin' rich it is mind blowing. This country is sue
happy. If we see a chance to sue, we are damn well gonna do it. It's
all about the money.

As The Donald always says....its not personal, its business.

And the business of taking people to court over things that happen from
our own stupidity, has gotten out of hand. IN MY OPINION....which we
know is worth Sh*t....but still my opinion.

Hey its Friday....I am going to Atlantic City this weekend. No one is
going to **** me off today.

Maggie

Oh Maggie I wish I'd never seen your face
You made a first-class fool out of me
But I'm as blind as a fool can be
You stole my heart but I love you anyway

Maggie I wish I'd never seen your face
I'll get on back home one of these days
ROD STEWART

Maggie wrote:
GaryG wrote:

Your "local columnist" has been had...both of the lawsuits you cite

are

fabrications. They've been passed around as urban legends for many

years,

with not a grain of truth.

"Smarten up", indeed.

GG


How about..... "Woman sues McDonalds because her COFFEE WAS HOT"...did
she expect it to be COLD COFFEE???


http://lawandhelp.com/q298-2.htm

In article .com, Maggie wrote:

GaryG wrote:
Your "local columnist" has been had...both of the lawsuits you cite
are
fabrications. They've been passed around as urban legends for many
years,
with not a grain of truth.

"Smarten up", indeed.

GG

How about..... "Woman sues McDonalds because her COFFEE WAS HOT"...did
she expect it to be COLD COFFEE???

or "Mother sues fast food restaurant because her kid is fat".

I have three lawyers. Which I use for various reasons, plus one lawyer
pal. Who I have only occasionally. ;-) Only kidding, maybe not...yea
only kidding.

They are so freakin' rich it is mind blowing. This country is sue
happy. If we see a chance to sue, we are damn well gonna do it. It's
all about the money.

As The Donald always says....its not personal, its business.

And the business of taking people to court over things that happen from
our own stupidity, has gotten out of hand. IN MY OPINION....which we
know is worth Sh*t....but still my opinion.

Hey its Friday....I am going to Atlantic City this weekend. No one is
going to **** me off today.

Maggie

Oh Maggie I wish I'd never seen your face
You made a first-class fool out of me
But I'm as blind as a fool can be
You stole my heart but I love you anyway

Maggie I wish I'd never seen your face
I'll get on back home one of these days
ROD STEWART


I heard (and have not personally confirmed) of a successful suite
where a guy picked up a running lawn mower for the purpose of trimming
his hedges. His fingers that wrapped under the protective skirt
were severed by the running blades. He sued the manfacturer on the
grounds the mower did not come with a warning not to pickup a running
mower.

Mike