ILR’s “Top 10 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2017”

The U.S. Chamber’s annual listing of ten lawsuits it thinks the world could have done without has only three cases that overlap with our coverage here at Overlawyered, including the man who sued his date for texting during a movie, the man who sued Uber for revealing his mistress (in France — the awards have gone international), and the woman who sued over being “deceived” by Jelly Belly beans, which it pronounces the winner.

Its other seven cases include a “time clock” wage/hour suit filed against Starbucks in California; a New Jersey man’s suit after tripping over a Christmas tree (more); one Florida lawyer sues another over “negligent handshake“; also in Florida, woman sues after falling off restaurant’s popular donkey statue; class action plaintiff had asked for “butter” at a Dunkin’ Donuts, got less expensive spread; 15-year-old sues mom for confiscating phone, judge sides with mom (Spain); and woman sues after spill of hot nacho cheese at Texas air force base.

“The Dangerous Toys of Christmas: Debunked!”

Lenore Skenazy, Paul Detrick & Alexis Garcia video and commentary on the annual alarmism of WATCH (World Against Toys Causing Harm)(earlier), which this year is out against fidget spinners as well as other popular playthings:

Also on this year’s list is the Wonder Woman Battle Action Sword, which, the WATCH team says, encourages young children “to bear arms”—as if you get a Wonder Woman toy and immediately deploy to Yemen. They also say that the “rigid plastic sword blade has the potential to cause facial or other impact injuries.” Yeah…and so does a fork. In fact, so does a candy cane, if you suck it to a sharp point.

Joyous reunion: low-IQ Oregon couple get custody of their youngest back

“Four days before Christmas, a Redmond couple received their miracle. Amy Fabbrini and Eric Ziegler’s 10-month-old son Hunter will spend his first Christmas at home after a judge found the couple’s limited cognitive abilities did not make them unfit to parent.” But the ruling does not reverse the termination of the couple’s parental rights over 4-year-old son Christopher, who is deemed to have more complex needs because of developmental hurdles; they will be back next month in court to fight that. [Samantha Swindler, Oregonian] I’ve written about the case here and here.

“Media Beware: ‘Shakedown’ Lawyer Suing The Industry Over Videos Without Closed Captioning”

“A lawyer accused by his opponents of exploiting the blind to recover millions of dollars from shakedown lawsuits is now representing a deaf man who has sued a dozen media outlets….including Barstool Sports, BET Interactive and Gannett Satellite Information Network.” Attorney C.K. Lee, “has used a blind man named Derrick Anderson in 24 lawsuits,” per reporting by Julia Marsh in the New York Post, and is now teaming up with a deaf client named Phillip Sullivan Jr. to file closed captioning suits. [John O’Brien, Legal Newsline/Forbes]

Best of Overlawyered — February 2017

December 20 roundup

  • Craft brewery regs, Peter Angelos has another special bill in Annapolis, county council vetoes on development, and more in my latest Maryland roundup [Free State Notes]
  • Oh, that pro bono: celebrity lawyer’s pro bono contract for sex accusers included up to one-third commission on selling their stories to media outlets [John Solomon and Alison Spann, The Hill]
  • Forget that Viking cruise down the Mississippi River, Jones Act makes it a no-go [WQAD] “The Jones Act costs all Americans too much” [Bloomberg View editorial; earlier here, etc.]
  • Cato Daily Podcast with firearms policy expert David Kopel on interstate right to carry and restricting bump stocks;
  • Not-so-nastygram in beer biz: “As far as cease and desists go, this is about as good as it gets.” [Timothy Geigner, TechDirt]

Best of Overlawyered — January 2017