We're getting sued

[taxguykarl]

Oh snap.


Also, I'm willing to bet that she has no doctor's records of any of this, so even if the case went to court I'm sure it would be thrown out.

If there are medical records, it was probably by a quack (working for the ambulance chaser, of course) who bandaged her up and put her on all the assistive devices you can imagine.

[MyEccentricHell]

I swear, am I the only person on earth who has the decency to be embarrassed by my own clumsiness if I slip and fall on something so obvious? I have to say in a situation like that, even if I did hurt myself, I'd probably flee as fast as I could rather than have to admit I was so stupid as to fall on my face, ass, or whatever else in a huge obvious mess marked with bright colored cones.

I'll admit that I've been mortified more then once by my own clumsiness. If I happen to slip/trip/fall the first thing I do is look around hoping no one saw me do it & then I haul ass to get up & get away from there. I never check to see if I'm ok until later on.

[fish3k1]

Am I reading right? You were on foot, correct?

Yep, just being a tool really :P taught me to be careful though.

Back to the OP, I'm not at al surprised at what she tried to do though. People will use the most ridiculous excuses to try and get money out of people. I figured that's pretty much what the lawyer was doing too, that'll be the last you hear from him I'd wager, and if not... well, what have they got to stand on, really? Apparently not the SC's legs anyway :P

[PizzaDrone]

If I fall, I tend to giggle like an idiot, at myself, so no one else can before me. Why exactly would this woman want to draw attention to the fact that SHE caused the spill and then fell over into it? Was she filming some sort of slapstick film?

[LingualMonkey]

Back to the OP, I'm not at al surprised at what she tried to do though. People will use the most ridiculous excuses to try and get money out of people.

Yep. Two years ago, my wife was driving home from work. It was late evening and she was coming home on the highway. A tractor(!) pulled out in front of her, and he didn't have lights on. She hit him at 60 miles per hour, totalling her car.

She was fine, by the way. Had a seat belt-shaped bruise for awhile.

The farmer got the ticket. His insurance paid for our car.

He's suing us for loss of his tractor.

[crazylegs]

If there are medical records, it was probably by a quack (working for the ambulance chaser, of course) who bandaged her up and put her on all the assistive devices you can imagine.

Not likely, the NHS is stingy as hell!

[Chromatix]

Doesn't have to be the NHS. Private clinics and hospitals can do whatever they like, if the money seems right (and it doesn't contradict Hippocrates).

[One-Fang]

He's suing us for loss of his tractor.

Good god, what was she driving? I'm not sure I can picture a car v. tractor incident where the tractor is a write-off.

[Geek King]

The farmer got the ticket. His insurance paid for our car.

He's suing us for loss of his tractor.

Yeah. Good luck with that, Farmer Bob.

With him getting the ticket, I'd file counter-suit for court costs, time spent on court, and additional damages for frivilous lawsuit. That's as close to a sure thing as you get right there. Sadly, the farmer probably couldn't pay out, but it would be satifying to have that over his head if he pushes through with it. No, I'm not a nice person.

[LingualMonkey]

The tractor wasn't totalled, it was damaged, and he's claiming an injury.

His suit won't go anywhere. Our insurance company is handling the entire thing (and any potential countersuit). My wife gave a deposition on it, and she's pretty much done. We've been told over and over that this won't get anywhere and we should just write the whole thing off as his idiocy.

Oh, she was driving a Grand Prix, that was totalled beyond recognition. She bought the same car, same year to replace it.

[Horsetuna]

I'm not trying to start an argument, but if you accept that an accident is your fault, then why should the other party owe you anything?

I was hit by a cherokee jeep about ten years ago on my bike.it was just after sundown, and I was helmetless on the sidewalk. they stopped, I stopped, paused, then continued... I could not see if the lady saw me or not I realized in retrospect.


SMASH.... My bike was pulled UNDER the vehicle, twisted up like you took two ends of a towel and twisted in opposite directions. I fortunately, was flung off and was not as well.

I clearly remember now, seeing the veicle back up and my poor bike emerging from underneath. I w3as... surprisingly, not that shaken

The poor driver though: almost

I got away VERY lucky,with only bumps and scrapes. She and I loaded my bike into her vehicle and she drove me home... she was very apologetic, me I was trying to reassure her it wasnt her fault, etc...

When we got home, we spoke to my mom,and she agreed to replace my bike. I was fine with that. The next day we went in, did the police report thing, I got a medical check up (though nothing came up aside from bruises and bumps)

everyone iI spoke to, even ten hears ago, said I should have sued her. WHY, I asked. It was partially my fault, I wasnt hurt badly (By some miracle), and I got a new bike.

I just dont get it either.

[Soetkin]

A truck in front of me lost a large spool of electric wire, it bounded on the road and - by some miracle- only hit my car on the side because I managed to swerve out of the way without hitting any other traffic. Truck driver even got a ticket because the spool was not secured at all.
It took them six months to pay for the damages to my car as they took it to court (insurance agency handled everything). Un-be-lievable.

[ditchdj]

A good attorney will do this rather than filing suit based just upon whatever the client says. You would be surprised (well, maybe this board wouldn't) how often clients out right lie to their attorneys. Attorneys learn quickly not to blindly trust their clients.

Well I guess that tells me what kind of "attorney" is suing me on behalf of a zombie debt collector. Funny thing is that I sent them a letter demanding proof of the debt in July and I have heard absolutely nothing back from them.

[Alpha Strike]

Yep. Two years ago, my wife was driving home from work. It was late evening and she was coming home on the highway. A tractor(!) pulled out in front of her, and he didn't have lights on. She hit him at 60 miles per hour, totalling her car...

The farmer got the ticket. His insurance paid for our car.

He's suing us for loss of his tractor.

I was hit by a cherokee jeep about ten years ago on my bike.....

everyone iI spoke to, even ten hears ago, said I should have sued her. WHY, I asked. It was partially my fault, I wasnt hurt badly (By some miracle), and I got a new bike.

I just dont get it either.

My father and his brother are part owners of a small business in Chicago and they've had problems with folks using lawsuits as a way to scam them.

One example stands out: The company had problems with a customer who frequently either paid late or didn't pay at all. After a number of these incidents, with unpaid bills piling up, the company finally decided to sue to recover at least some of what was owed them. In retaliation, the customer counter-sued in another state (the company was in IL, the suit filed in NC) and let it be known that he'd drop his suit only if the company dropped theirs. Otherwise, they'd be forced to travel to NC and they'd end up paying more for travel+personel+court costs then they'd actually end up recovering from this deadbeat.

As they looked into the customer/deadbeat further, it turned out he had a history of screwing companies out of payment for their products and then using the threat of frivolous, far-away law-suits as a way to avoid ever having to pay. The sad part was that in the end, my father's company decided not to pursue this deadbeat specifically because it couldn't justify spending more on chasing him down then what he actually owed them.

Generally, I think the proliferation of lawsuits, at least in the US, is caused by three factors.

First, as we've all experienced, many folks seem to have a tremendous sense of entitlement. Secondly, we're a fairly litigious society, and so when something happens to a person, they think of all the dumb lawsuits they've ever heard about - and the big paydays involved - and think "Why not me?"

Finally, it seems like there's no consequences for filing a frivolous lawsuit. Besides the time and money it costs to file, it doesn't seem like there's anything in place to dissuade folks from using lawsuits as a threat or weapon, or as a means of taking someone to the bank. [I hope I'm wrong on this last point - I'm sure someone will correct me. ]

[Bloodsoul]

Which reminds me...

"Gangleader: Do you have any idea what we are gonna do to you? If we find any kind of scratch?
Shep Ramsey: Lemme guess. Your gonna pound my face.
Gangleader: What are you nuts? This is the '90s. We're gonna sue you."