List spotlights year’s most ridiculous lawsuits

By CHRIS DICKERSON

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — A lawsuit by a driver who pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs and then sued a victim that he killed tops the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform’s survey of the Top Ten Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2012, released Thursday. 

“Abuse of our legal system is no joke, and these examples range from the outrageous to the absurd,” ILR President Lisa A. Rickard said in a press release. “This poll reminds us that as a society, we sue too much. In turn, these abusive lawsuits inflict harm on lives, jobs, and our economic growth.”

The ILR owns Legal Newsline and The Southeast Texas Record.

ILR announced the Top Ten Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2012 from votes cast throughout the year by visitors to FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org. The lawsuits were selected from those featured in the website’s monthly polls for 2012. The Faces of Lawsuit Abuse campaign is ILR’s public awareness effort created to highlight the impact of abusive lawsuits on small businesses, communities, and individuals.

The Top Ten Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2012 are:

* Intoxicated Florida driver pleads guilty to manslaughter, then sues victim he killed

* Michigan woman files $5 million suit for the leftover gas still in her repossessed car

* 13-year-old Little Leaguer sued by spectator who got hit with baseball

* Maximum security inmate who went to jail with five teeth sues prison for dental problems

* Anheuser Busch sued when longneck bottle used as weapon in bar fight

* National Football League fan sues Dallas Cowboys over hot bench

* California restaurateur sued for disabilities act violations in parking lot he doesn’t own

* Colorado man wins $7 million blaming illness on inhaling microwave popcorn fumes

* $1.7 billion suit claims City of Santa Monica wireless parking meters causing health problems

* Bay Area parents sue school after their son was kicked out of honors class for cheating

Links to the full news stories from which these were drawn and the complete results of the poll can be found at http://facesoflawsuitabuse.org/polls-archive.