Overlawyered » damage theories http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:22:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 “Relationship Breakup Following Collision ‘Too Remote To Create Liability’” http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/relationship-breakup-following-collision-too-remote-to-create-liability/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/relationship-breakup-following-collision-too-remote-to-create-liability/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 05:12:34 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26452 Canada: The British Columbia Supreme Court has found “that a claim for damages for a break-up of a relationship following a collision is too remote for liability.” It accepted the plaintiff’s contention that the car crash had aggravated his pre-existing problems of back pain, but said the subsequent break-up of his romantic relationship was “too remote” a consequence to give rise to liability given that the couple appeared to have been at odds over “fundamental and deep-seated issues.” [Erik Magraken]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/relationship-breakup-following-collision-too-remote-to-create-liability/feed/ 0 Canadian court: alcoholism following accident is compensable injury http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/canadian-court-alcoholism-following-accident-is-compensable-injury/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/canadian-court-alcoholism-following-accident-is-compensable-injury/#comments Sat, 22 Jan 2011 12:44:18 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21082 After a pedestrian was hit by a truck and suffered a broken elbow and other injuries, he began to drink excessively and developed clinical alcoholism with serious health consequences. Doctors testified that the man’s “pain and mood” following the injury contributed to this development, in combination with genetic predisposition (both his parents were alcoholics). A judge in the province of British Columbia found that the “alcohol abuse was caused by the Accident and that such alcohol abuse was reasonably foreseeable,” so that compensation for it could be recovered as part of the lawsuit. [BC Injury Law]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/canadian-court-alcoholism-following-accident-is-compensable-injury/feed/ 4 School left students’ records on the street http://overlawyered.com/2010/09/school-left-students-records-on-the-street/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/09/school-left-students-records-on-the-street/#comments Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:04:01 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=19259 And now a parent lawsuit is seeking “unspecified damages.” [NY Post]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2010/09/school-left-students-records-on-the-street/feed/ 3 Lawsuit demands $38 quadrillion http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/lawsuit-demands-38-quadrillion/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/lawsuit-demands-38-quadrillion/#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 05:06:30 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18995 That sum, demanded by a Las Vegas man in a suit against three Utah attorneys, is far in excess of all the money in the world, so there may be collectibility problems. [Provo Daily Herald]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/lawsuit-demands-38-quadrillion/feed/ 11 Claim: access to cable Playboy Channel caused pain, anguish http://overlawyered.com/2008/12/claim-access-to-cable-playboy-channel-caused-pain-anguish/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/12/claim-access-to-cable-playboy-channel-caused-pain-anguish/#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:20:29 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=8015 Marc Randazza (Dec. 12; source link he cites is NSFW):

A Rhode Island family filed a lawsuit in Kent Superior Court claiming that Verizon Communications caused “great pain, anxiety, nervousness and mental anguish,” by providing access to the Playboy Channel. Plaintiffs Robert Bourne, Denise Roy and daughters Elice Roy and Danielle Bourne are seeking compensation for “current and future medical bills.”

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2008/12/claim-access-to-cable-playboy-channel-caused-pain-anguish/feed/ 22 By reader acclaim: “Nude Photos on Lost Cell Phone Lead to Suit” http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/by-reader-acclaim-nude-photos-on-lost-cell-phone-lead-to-suit/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/by-reader-acclaim-nude-photos-on-lost-cell-phone-lead-to-suit/#comments Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:29:30 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=7905 “Here’s some food for thought: If you have nude photos of your wife on your cell phone, hang onto it. Phillip Sherman of Arkansas learned that lesson after he left his phone behind at a McDonald’s restaurant and the photos ended up online.” Sherman says restaurant employees had promised to secure the phone until he returned to pick it up; the story does not make clear (assuming it is known at all) how or by whom the pictures were posted. He and Tina Sherman are now suing the restaurant for damages that include the cost of moving to a new house, saying that she received threatening and harassing text and voice messages related to the pictures. (AP, Nov. 23; Northwest Arkansas Times).

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2008/11/by-reader-acclaim-nude-photos-on-lost-cell-phone-lead-to-suit/feed/ 5 Update: Jury Rejects Flight Attendant’s Claim http://overlawyered.com/2008/08/update-jury-rejects-flight-attendants-claim/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/08/update-jury-rejects-flight-attendants-claim/#comments Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:46:03 +0000 Jason Barney http://overlawyered.com/?p=7411 The flight attendant sought a whopping $405K for the alleged assault.  This demand seemed unreasonable based on the description of the injuries, even if they occurred as alleged (“Jury says no assault, agrees with Osteen’s wife”, MSNBC, Aug. 14, earlier).

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2008/08/update-jury-rejects-flight-attendants-claim/feed/ 2 The flight attendant and the televangelist’s wife http://overlawyered.com/2008/08/the-flight-attendant-and-the-televangelists-wife/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/08/the-flight-attendant-and-the-televangelists-wife/#comments Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:58:34 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=7387 We express no opinion as to exactly how badly Victoria Osteen, wife of a celebrated evangelical minister, may have behaved on that Continental Airlines flight in 2005; “The Federal Aviation Administration fined [her] $3,000 for interfering with a crew member.” Readers keep writing in, however, to call our attention to the financial demands that flight attendant Sharon Brown is making in her lawsuit, which just went to trial. It seems Brown wants compensation not only for such things as hemorrhoids and damage to her religious faith but also, by way of punishment, “10 percent of Victoria Osteen’s net worth”. Wouldn’t we all! (”Joel Osteen’s Wife on Trial in Flight Attendant Assault”, AP/FoxNews.com, Aug. 7).

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2008/08/the-flight-attendant-and-the-televangelists-wife/feed/ 8 Spiraling damage awards http://overlawyered.com/2008/07/spiraling-damage-awards/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/07/spiraling-damage-awards/#comments Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:33:52 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=7329 Not what you think, this is in Saudi Arabia:

“Tribes like to say, ‘We got this amount of money for a member of our tribe,’ ” he said. “People start to think the more money you can get for a member of your family, the more valuable your tribe is.”

And the defendant who doesn’t settle the case is executed. (Faiza Saleh Ambah, “Saudis Face Soaring Blood-Money Sums: Tribes, Families Are Demanding Millions”, Washington Post, Jul. 27).

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2008/07/spiraling-damage-awards/feed/ 0 $40 billion demanded over use of newsworthy names on T-shirt http://overlawyered.com/2008/05/40-billion-demanded-over-use-of-newsworthy-names-on-t-shirt/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/05/40-billion-demanded-over-use-of-newsworthy-names-on-t-shirt/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 00:06:31 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=6188 An Arizona antiwar activist has been much criticized for selling a T-shirt with the slogan “Bush Lied, They Died” along with the names of the more than 4,000 U.S. servicemen killed in the war. Parents of a soldier killed in action in Iraq are suing, saying the use of their son’s name has caused them emotional distress; they want class-action status on behalf of all the parents of other soldiers killed in action, amounting to $40 billion. The suit’s Amended Complaint does little to advance the dignity of its cause with assertions like, “Most respectfully, this is a concept that even a mentally-challenged monkey could grasp.” (Howard Wasserman, Prawfsblawg, May 5; Balko, Reason “Hit and Run”, May 6; The Smoking Gun, Apr. 23).

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