On November 23, 1985 -- during Pee-Wee Herman's golden era -- actor Paul Reubens hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live, and participated in a skit where his beloved Dinosaur Town Theme Park, threatened by foreclosure, needed a fast $1 million to stay afloat. Pee-Wee's solution: Find a mouse in a Coke bottle. With help from his pals, he dumps bottle after bottle of Coke into a basin until they find that elusive mouse. And when they find him -- yep -- The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)'s men in black burst in with a briefcase full of money. Dang, those 80s.For some, the joke has not aged well. Especially considering that in this day and age, in this fair country, Montana resident Bob Craft can not only change his name to Jack Ass, but also sue Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA)'s MTV franchise Jackass for "defaming his good character."
Mr. Ass, who changed his name to "raise awareness about the dangers of drunken driving" also sued for copyright infringement on a certain "Andi Ass," a cartoon created for his campaign. AOL Money & Finance has compiled a nice directory of this and other insane lawsuits, which we can all laugh at for a little while; that is, until we realize that one way or another we're paying for them.
According to Citizens Against Law Abuse, each of us, every year without realizing it, pays $1,200 to cover lawsuit abuse. "No matter who you are or what you do, lawsuit abuse affects your life in numerous ways.... Paying more for prescription drugs, doctors' visits, groceries or household items in general? Some of those higher costs can be traced directly to lawsuits or their threat."
Of course, litigation attorneys and citizens' rights organizations claim that lawsuits protect consumers and create a safer environment. Which is true in a sense. However, according to CALA, "less than half of the liability dollar ever goes to anyone injured -- the rest goes to lawyer fees and court costs."
What's a concerned citizen to do? SickofLawsuits.org says to contact your legislator, and provides a link to make your voice heard. But, if you don't want to rock the boat, here are some funny lawyer jokes.
B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-01-2007 @ 11:24AM
Steve Seivers said...
Brandon, OK you have pointed out one end of the bell curve by estimating the cost of frivolous lawsuits. Now, how about pointing out the other end of how much we save by other lawsuits that benefit the consumer.
3-01-2007 @ 12:41PM
benny said...
"No matter who you are or what you do, lawsuit abuse affects your life in numerous ways.... Paying more for prescription drugs, doctors' visits, groceries or household items in general? Some of those higher costs can be traced directly to lawsuits or their threat."
Talking about ridiculous lawsuits such as Mr. Jack Ass's is one thing - but to directly tie that in to medical costs? You really reveal your agenda, Mr.Barker. Please, please ---- ramble on about the costs of lawsuits on an individual basis, based on case type. Do this rather than foolishly blanketing all suits, including case types that have an everyday legitimacy.
Really, how DO you jump from Jack Ass to incresed medical costs? You'd have to be a jack ass yourself to do such a thing. Take your agenda elsewhere....
3-01-2007 @ 1:01PM
exc0p72 said...
Re read the article. He's not tying Medical cost directly to Mr.Ass, but what he IS doing is pointing out a very important point; lawsuit abuse DOES affect all aspects of your life. If that MORON took too man pain killers because th bottle said take one to two vicodin every four hours AS NEEDED, and he took the AS NEEDED part to mean "it's not working enought, I need to take two more" and ends up over dosing, sues his doctor, the pharmacy, and his health care, where the hell do you think the raise in health coverage is comming from? That and those who go to the doctor for the sake of going to the doctor.
The point is, you need to read and understand something before you replay with attacks against the author of an article, especially one who is only looking out for the consumers. Would you have known this information otherwise? I think not.
3-01-2007 @ 1:59PM
Keith said...
This is exactly what nauseates me about American jurisprudence. Anyone can sue for anything at anytime and it's costing us millions. While I support fining for frivilous lawsuits some argue that this has the danger of making justice something that only the rich can afford. This argument is pure bunk. There is something called common sense and most Americans need a very healthy does of it right now!
3-01-2007 @ 9:21PM
Keith said...
Steve, there is little cost saved on the part of the consumer from lawsuits. Businesses do not change their products because of a lawsuit; rather they change their product based on market performance.
3-02-2007 @ 12:09AM
Sue said...
Frivolous lawsuits cost our country tens of billions of dollars a year. In principle, I cannot accept a burglar suing the people he/she is robbing. That is wrong on many levels, and if our courts were not clogged with these suits, the judicial system would move more quickly. As tax-payers, we all pay the price. I can think of many other worthwhile ways to spend an extra $1,200 per year. If this figure includes all family members, my family pays $6,000 per year for unnecessary lawsuits, which is high for a middle-income family. We could do a lot with the extra money!
Not a fan of the frivolous lawsuit!