Posts Tagged ‘Jonathan Lee Riches’

July 5 roundup

  • “After drunken driver kills son, mother billed for cleanup” [Greenville News, S.C.]
  • Cities, states and school districts in California will be among losers if Sacramento lawmakers pass bill authorizing phantom damages [Capitol Weekly; more on phantom damages]
  • New from Treasury Dept.: steep exit fees for many corporations departing U.S. domicile [Future of Capitalism, TaxProf]
  • Jonathan Lee Riches is back filing his hallucinatory lawsuits again, and courts don’t care to stop him [Above the Law] More: Lowering the Bar.
  • Funny 1988 letter from Wyoming lawyer to California lawyer about fees [Letters of Note via Abnormal Use]
  • L.A. family is considering adding another valedictorian lawsuit to our annals [L.A. Times, earlier]
  • Effort to compensate Japanese nuclear accident victims is proceeding without much litigation [WaPo]

October 11 roundup

  • “Feds seek to halt inmate’s frequent lawsuits” [AP; J.L. Riches]
  • “SeaWorld Blasts ‘Improper’ Suit Over Trainer’s Death” [OnPoint News, earlier]
  • Does new NY law serve as road map for charities that wish to defy donor intent? [CultureGrrl]
  • Cruise ship case an example of tensions that arise when defense lawyers jump fence to join plaintiffs’ side [Julie Kay, DBR]
  • More on Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal’s “my lawsuits create jobs” stance [Bainbridge; related, New York Times Magazine (opponent MacMahon: “His business is suing people.”)]
  • Australia: “Autistic student sues over test” [The Age]
  • “The most conservative court? Hardly” [Jacoby, Globe] And Justice Breyer, for one, has “rejected the notion that the U.S. Supreme Court has a pro-business slant and said the court doesn’t rule in favor of companies any more frequently than it has historically.” [Bloomberg via Adler, Volokh]
  • “Abducted by aliens? Call now for compensation” [four years ago on Overlawyered; Germany]

Jonathan Lee Riches sues Guinness Book of World Records

The notoriously litigious inmate has sued the records book for calling him the world’s most litigious guy; he also “objects to the names Guinness intends to call him”, including: “Johnny Sue-nami,” “Sue-per-man” and the “Patrick Ewing of suing.” He is currently an inmate at a federal facility in Kentucky. [Spokane Spokesman-Review, KOMO] (& welcome ABA Journal readers).

April 20 roundup

  • Boy fatally shoots stepbrother at home, mom sues school district as well as shooter’s family [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
  • Problem gambler sues Ontario lottery for C$3.5 billion [Toronto Star]
  • Cop declines training in which he’d be given Taser shock, and sues [Indianapolis Star]
  • Ultra-litigious inmate Jonathan Lee Riches scrawls new complaint linking Bernard Madoff, Britney Spears [Kevin LaCroix]
  • Just to read this update feels like an invasion of privacy: “Judge to Hear Challenge to $6M Herpes Case Award” [On Point News, earlier]
  • “Best criminal strategy: join the Spokane police” [Coyote Blog] More: Greenfield, Brayton.
  • Will mommy-bloggers be held liable for freebie product reviews? [Emily Friedman, ABC News, earlier]
  • Update: “Fifth Circuit says no bail for Paul Minor” [Freeland]

Microblog 2008-11-05

July 16 roundup

  • Another compilation of the hundred best law blogs, with a familiar name among the nine “general” picks, so thanks for that [“Criminal Justice Degrees Guide” via ABA Journal]
  • Europe has a transnational association of personal injury lawyers, funded by the EU, but with no wheeler-dealer, masters-of-the-universe vibe in evidence [PoL]
  • Delta wasn’t liable in Kentucky Comair crash, but some plaintiffs sued it anyway in what their lawyer describes as an “abundance of caution” — that’s a diplomatic way to put it [Aero-News Net; link fixed now]
  • U.K.: Mom told she’d need to pass criminal record check before being allowed to take her own son to school [Telegraph]
  • Regular coverage of the litigious exploits of delusional inmate Jonathan Lee Riches, if you’ve got the stomach for them [Dreadnaught blog]
  • Federal Circuit reverses $85 million infringement verdict won by Raymond Niro, blasted by critics as original “patent troll” [AmLaw Daily]
  • “Determined to defeat lawsuits over addiction, the casino industry is funding research at a Harvard-affiliated lab.” [Salon]
  • Hired through nepotism by in-laws, then fired after divorce, sues on grounds of “marital status discrimination” [eight years ago on Overlawyered]

Losing patience with Jonathan Lee Riches

The federal judges in the Northern District of Georgia decided to place curbs on the famously litigious inmate who’s filed more than 1,000 lawsuits nationwide naming celebrities and politicians as members of hallucinatory cabals against him. In March the judges enjoined him from filing more suits without permission in the district, which he can do only if he agrees to be prosecuted for false statements. (Miami Daily Business Review, Jun. 12, also with some discussion of Jack Thompson and of a few other Florida litigants who’ve had their acts shut down after filing (e.g.) 18, 20 and 60+ meritless or inappropriate actions.)

The order in the Northern District of Georgia has not prevented Riches from continuing to file lawsuits against celebrities and public figures elsewhere, as in the federal District of South Carolina. (Rachel Barron, “Vinod Khosla Slapped With $43M Lawsuit”, Greentech Media, Jun. 20).

The Jonathan Lee Riches docket

We’ve covered the litigious inmate fantasist before, but this is still a striking statistic: “Thirty-nine percent of the 491 cases filed so far this month in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia have been filed by one man: Jonathan Lee Riches. …Some of Riches’ prior complaints have been dismissed, including a $662 trillion suit filed in the Northern District last summer against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. The suit alleged that Vick was attempting to ‘kidnap’ Riches’ mind and to force him to lose weight, and demanded that the $662 trillion be delivered — in ‘British gold’ shipped via truck — to the front gates of the prison where Riches is incarcerated.” (Janet L. Conley, “Inmate’s Frequent Filings Take On Targets Ranging From Spitzer to Van Halen”, Fulton County Daily Report, Mar. 25).

January 30 roundup