Specific Purpose Statement: To persuade my audience that frivolous lawsuits are out of control in America
Introduction:
A. Attention Getter
1. We've all heard the story about the woman who spilled scalding hot coffee on herself and then successfully sued McDonald's. But we've also heard reports of burglars suing homeowners after injuring themselves during a robbery. Most of us laugh off these stories as urban legends made to show the ridiculousness of frivolous lawsuits, but you might be surprised, however by how many of these are true.
B.
1. Let's face the facts: In America, anyone can sue anybody over anything at anytime
B. Thesis
1. In order to increase your awareness of how the lawsuit craze sweeping the nation has gotten completely out of control, I am going to provide you with stories and court cases of complete irrationality, otherwise known as frivolous lawsuits.
B. Preview Statement
1. The effects of frivolous lawsuits are far more reaching than just a good joke though; they are in great part responsible for the problems with our health care system, insurance rates, property taxes, prices of products and services, doctor visits, poor patient care, and even job benefits.
II. Body
A. It is not everyday that a robber gets to sue those whom he has robbed fromand actually win.
1. When robber Terrence Dickson was leaving a house he just finished stealing from through the garage, he was unable to get the door open. He was also unable to re-enter the house because the door locked when it closed behind him.
a. The family to whom the house belonged was away on vacation, and Dickson was stranded in the garage for eight straight days.
b. For these eight days, he lived off a case of Pepsi and a large bag of d...
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...perate her seatbelt and drowned.
2. Her parents sued Honda for making a seat belt that their drunken daughter, almost three times the legal alcohol limit, couldn't operate underwater.
3. A jury found Honda 75% responsible for her death and awarded the family $65 million dollars.
III. Conclusion
A. Some of these frivolous lawsuits are hard to believe, and the fact that some of these cases have won are even harder to believe.
B. These cases have taken a toll on American consumers and businessesas much as $152 billion a year.
C. So next time your going to sue someone, make sure its worth the time and effort, and everyone else's time and effort as well.
Bibliography
Top Ten Frivolous Lawsuits. Legal Zoom. 1 Mar. 2008 .
Stupid Lawsuits. Power of Attorneys. 2002. 1 Mar. 2008 .
Frivolous Lawsuits. Washblog. 1 Mar. 2008 .
On the evening of Ms. Heggar¡¦s death she was alone in her house. Eddie Ray Branch, her grandson, testified that he visited his grandmother on the day that she was killed. He was there till at least 6:30 p.m. Lester Busby, her grandnephew, and David Hicks arrived while her grandson was still there and they saw him leave. They then went in to visit with Ms. Heggar. While they were there, Lester repaid Ms. Heggar 80 dollars, which he owed her. They left around 7:15 p.m. and went next door to a neighboring friend¡¦s house. David Hick¡¦s went home alone from there to get something but returned within ten minutes of leaving. Because he was only gone for 5-10 minutes, prosecution theorized TWO attacks on Ms. Heggar because he could not have killed his grandmother during this 5-10 minute period alone. At 7:30 p.m., 15 minutes after the two had left, an insurance salesman called to see Ms. Heggar. He knocked for about 2 or 3 minutes and got no reply. Her door was open but the screen door was closed. Her TV was on. He claimed to have left after about 5 minutes and then he returned the next morning. The circumstances were exactly the same. With concern, he went to the neighbor¡¦s house and called the police. His reasoning for being there was because the grandmother¡¦s family had taken out burial insurance three days before she had died.
Damages are a fundamental principle in the American legal system. However, a number of recent cases in the United States have sparked a debate on the issue, the most famous one being the “hot coffee lawsuit”1. In 1994, Stella Liebeck bought coffee at a McDonald’s restaurant, spilt it, and was severely burnt. She sued the McDonald’s company, received $160,000 in compensatory damages, and $2.9 million in punitive damages. A judge then reduced the punitive damages to $480,000. The final out-of-court settlement was of approximately $500,000. For many, this case is frivolous (meaning that the plaintiff’s prospects of being successful were low or inexistent), but it really highlights the question of excessive punitive damages compared to the damage suffered and its causes.
Learning from what Dr. Anna Pou had to face with the lawsuits she was dealing with makes me cringe. As Healthcare professionals, having to worry of possibly being sued for believing what is right for the patient or as a whole for the hospitals health is ridiculous. Healthcare professionals like Dr. Pou, have taken the Hippocratic oath, and one of the promises made within that oath is “first, do no harm”. Often time’s society look at courts cases as a battle versus two oppositions, but Dr. Pou’s case it is not. In her statements from national television she states saying her role was to ‘‘help’’ patients ‘‘through their pain,’’.
a. but most admiralty cases can be brought in state courts unless qualify under diversity.
The refinement of this definition has significant legal implications, as it broadens the scope of those who can sue within blameless accidents. Prior to this, such victims would also face being labelled with “fault”. Supporting the findings of Axiak, by establishing non-tortious conduct as separate from “fault”, similar, future cases are more likely to proceed despite the plaintiff’s contributory
The plaintiffs, Bosse and Griffin, sued Chili’s for negligence seeking compensatory damages claiming a patron who pursued them following their skipping out on a restaurant bill was acting as agent for Chili’s at the time the patron caused the plaintiff’s car accident and that Chili’s was, therefore, responsible for the crash.
Medical error occurs more than most people realize and when a doctor is found negligent the patient has the right to sue for compensation of their losses. Debates and issues arise when malpractice lawsuits are claimed. If a patient is filing for a medical malpractice case, the l...
Black’s Law Dictionary defines frivolous as lacking a legal basis or legal merit; not serious; not reasonably purposeful (Garner, 2006). When people pursue such lawsuits as these it costs money. “The civil justice system is plagued by high ‘transaction costs,’ meaning that it is both expensive and time consuming to use the courts to resolve disputes” (Ruschmann, 2006, p. 60). Frivolous lawsuits should not be taken seriously. People should not be awarded money for things that they caused themselves, and they should not cost courts and consumer’s time and/or money.
Fugate, Larry. "New law cracks down on frivolous inmate lawsuits." Source News & Reports." July 19, 1996. http://sddtsun.sddt.com/~columbus/Files3/9607193.html
The movie “A Civil Action” released on January 8, 1999 provides viewers with an extraordinary story of the nightmare that occurred in Woburn Massachusetts in the late 1970’s. The people of this small town at the time had no idea what was going on until there were various cases of Leukemia in small children that ultimately resulted in the early passing of them. The people eventually had gone to find out that the drinking water in this small town was contaminated and there were many women that stepped in to get answers. This movie is a tremendously jaw dropping, eye opening account of a heartbreaking true story incident. There are various elements of negligence in this movie including, duty, legal cause, proximate cause and damages.
...on that a patient would rightfully receive, the patient as plaintiff would also contribute to the improvement initiatives of the health care provider, and better chances that such unfortunate medical malpractice events would less likely happen again.
Medical malpractice cases are difficult for the families who have lost their loved one or have suffered from severe injuries. No one truly wins in complicated court hearings that consist of a team of litigation attorneys for both the defendant and plaintiff(s). During the trial, evidence supporting malpractice allegations have to be presented so that the court can make a decision if the physician was negligent resulting in malpractice, or if the injury was unavoidable due to the circumstances. In these types of tort cases, the physician is usually a defendant on trial trying to prove that he or she is innocent of the medical error, delay of treatment or procedure that caused the injury. The perfect example of being at fault for medical malpractice as a result of delaying a procedure is the case of Waverly family versus John Hopkins Health System Corporation. The victims were not compensated enough for the loss of their child’s normal life. Pozgar (2012) explained….
Americans file about 15 million lawsuits a year. (Cannell) A fourth of all lawsuits filed are either frivolous or fraudulent. Perhaps, the careless point of view about the seriousness of lawsuits is perpetuated by the false representation on the many law shows on TV, such as Ally
Smith, C. E. (2004). Public defenders. In T. Hall, U.S. Legal System (pp. 567-572-). [Ebscohost]. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook
Smith&Hopen. (n.d.). The mechanics of ethical and effective cease and desist letters. Retrieved November 19, 2013, from http://www.smithhopen.com/litigation_cease_and_desist_letter_strategies.aspx