Stupid Lawsuits

[Modus Operandi]

I hear alot about stupid lawsuits and how they crowd up the court system. What do you think? Are there stupid lawsuits, or are they all justified?

Here's a video that kinda illustrates my point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfO9JUNXN7U

Sorry it's a link, embedding was disabled.

So again, is the lawsuit system OK, or does it need change?

[INFERNO]

Depends, what do you define as a "stupid lawsuit"?

[Modus Operandi]

Well, things like suing someone because you slipped on thier porch, suing because you spilled coffee in your lap, and it burned you, and suing because someone tripped on a kid running rampant in a shop.

[theOperaGhost]

Suing because of spilled coffee is stupid, yes, however the other two aren't nearly as bad. If a porch is slippery, there needs to be a visible warning, otherwise the owner of the porch is responsible for any injuries.

The kid running rampant in the store...that's a tough one actually. I honestly have to think about that one before I can come up with an answer...

[INFERNO]

Well, things like suing someone because you slipped on thier porch,

This one has some reason to it. If you have a porch, it's meant to be constructed in such a way that it is safe to use. If it's full of ice and someone falls on it, then you made it so that your porch was not safe. The exception would be if you had a large sign saying "porch is icy, don't use" and someone used it anyways, well too bad for them, there was a visible warning sign and they ignored it, tough luck.


suing because you spilled coffee in your lap, and it burned you

Agreed, this is a stupid one.


and suing because someone tripped on a kid running rampant in a shop.

I think this is one of those situations that requires more information. If the person tripped and all that happened was they broke the packet of eggs they were going to buy, then I would say it's a stupid lawsuit. However, if they tripped and became a quadrapelegic, then I see some reason for that. Lastly, if they tripped because the kid was running around and they injured themselves on something in the store, then depending on the injuries and what they fell on, they may be able to sue the store or the kid's parents.

[Modus Operandi]

I agree with what you say, Inferno. The justice system needs more information about any given lawsuit, it shouldn't just take them all.

[INFERNO]

I agree with what you say, Inferno. The justice system needs more information about any given lawsuit, it shouldn't just take them all.

As part of my forensic psychology course, we discuss a few court cases. These aren't silly ones of someone splashing hot coffee on themselves and then whining over their dumb luck, however, even when there is plenty of information in the court case, the legal system still is far from good. It's riddled with problems, such as with juries, judges, lawyers, etc... . In some areas it may be better than others but it still is massively flawed.

Take for example Family Day. When it was first implemented, the legal system was too jam-packed that postponing the cases one day wasn't a happening thing because it just wasn't possible. So, the court cases on that day had to be dropped. I'm sure that if there were murder trials, rape trials and similar crimes, those wouldn't be dismissed (at least I hope not) but the majority of the other ones were dropped. Point is, if a court case is to have its date changed, it's going to possibly take some time and when this occurs in many cases, it's a whole lot of leap-frogging. To me, that's one of the more minor problems because it's not one that's going to be easier to fix.

[mrmcdonaldduck]

all of the law suits in the song are stupid and im pretty sure theyve all happened.

[INFERNO]

all of the law suits in the song are stupid and im pretty sure theyve all happened.

Well that wouldn't make much sense now would it? The title of the thread is Stupid Lawsuits so it'd be absurd if the link by the OP had stupid lawsuits. :lol:

[mrmcdonaldduck]

i meant that common sense has gone out the window.