SMOKE-FILLED SUITS; FRIVOLOUS LITIGATION LIGHTS UP COURTS.Byline: Peter Hartlaub Daily News Staff Writer Stu Goodman was standing on the pitcher's mound in Granada Hills when he was served with the lawsuit. The former youth league baseball president says the kid suing him held a video camera and giggled when the complaint was delivered, and Goodman suddenly faced the possibility of a lengthy, costly court battle. All because Goodman asked another parent not to smoke near the dugout. ``If, God forbid, it were to happen and I were to owe a $25,000 judgment, I would no longer own my company and no longer own my home,'' says the Canoga Park resident. ``I'm like 85 percent of the citizens of this country now. I'm a day-to-day guy.'' More than a few sleepless nights later, a judge called the arguments in the lawsuit frivolous and threw it out of court, but Goodman can't help but think that he was more than a little lucky. Because not everyone's story has a happy ending, Gov. Pete Wilson For others named Pete Wilson, see . Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California. Wilson served as the thirty-sixth Governor of California (1991–1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that declared last week Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week. Loony lawsuits He got some of his ammunition from Sarah Cheaure and Robin Lossing, who run Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, a nonprofit group that collects wacky stories like Goodman's and publicizes its ``Loony Lawsuit of the Month'' out of a small office in Torrance. Cheaure claims there is a strange double standard in a country where citizens are innocent until proven guilty in criminal court, but a prisoner in Texas was able to sue the state because he was served chunky peanut butter, instead of the smooth variety. ``If the police think you have a crime, they have to have some evidence before they come knocking on your door,'' Cheaure says. ``Lawsuits work the other way. You file it, then try to find the evidence.'' Deborah David Deborah David born January 7 into the Garifuna community of Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. She is best known as "La Negra Del Tumbao" from the music video "La Negra Tiene Tumbao" by Celia Cruz. [1] She was also the Guatemalan nominee for Miss Playboy TV Latin America. , president of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , sympathizes with people like Goodman, but thinks the governor has misguidedly embraced CALA's fodder because it makes for a great sound bite sound bite n. A brief statement, as by a politician, taken from an audiotape or videotape and broadcast especially during a news report: "The box has been spitting forth maddening nine-second sound bites" . ``This is an election year. . . . They have found a theme that, for whatever reason, they think works with the voters,'' David says. ``The statistics simply don't bear out any litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. crisis or explosion. It simply isn't there.'' Still, some of the lawsuits are kind of fun to read . . . if you're not on the receiving end. Cheaure and Lossing put them together in convenient playing-card form and proudly distribute the ``52 Reasons We Need Legal Reform'' to the media and community leaders. In the Little League smoking case, Robert Westbrook sued Goodman, his brother Jeff and two others last year for the alleged ``emotional distress'' his boy suffered after league officials ordered the father to stop smoking near the game or leave. Case thrown out Stu Goodman said he trusted his lawyer, Joshua Ritz, who took the case pro bono Short for pro bono publico [Latin, For the public good]. The designation given to the free legal work done by an attorney for indigent clients and religious, charitable, and other nonprofit entities. . But the family man who owns a lighting business wondered if the baseball league's insurance or his homeowner's insurance would cover him if he lost. Six months later, court records show, the case was thrown out after a Superior Court judge decided the facts weren't strong enough to go to trial. The judge said Westbrook's arguments were ``frivolous and without legal foundation,'' and the plaintiff was ordered to pay about $2,500 in attorneys costs and sanctions. Contacted by phone, Westbrook says he now lives out of the state, then declined further comment. Not surprisingly, the deck is stacked with other frivolous cases from the Southland. Blender accident Among them is that of Janette Weiss, who sued a Kmart in Northridge after a bevy bevy a flock of birds. of blenders fell on her head. She said the store should have warned customers not to take stock from the upper shelves. Kmart's lawyer said she's still trying to locate the Valley woman, who owes her client more than $11,000 in attorneys costs after a jury deliberating for less than 30 minutes ruled 12-0 for the defense. David says personal injury lawsuits are down 44 percent in the past 10 years and suggested that targeting insurance companies and litigious litigious adj. referring to a person who constantly brings or prolongs legal actions, particularly when the legal maneuvers are unnecessary or unfounded. Such persons often enjoy legal battles, controversy, the courtroom, the spotlight, use the courts to punish corporations would be a better way to save taxpayers' money. ``There are already remedies on the books for the filing of frivolous lawsuits,'' David says. ``This is a solution in search of a problem.'' She's right, to a point. Robert Pugsley, professor of legal ethics The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. at Southwestern University For other places with the same name, see Southwestern University (disambiguation). History Prior to its founding in Georgetown, charters had been granted by the Legislature (Texas Congress 1836-1845) to establish four earlier educational institutions: School of Law, says judges in California have the discretion to award attorneys costs and fees to victims of frivolous lawsuits but don't have to do it as a matter of law. Fines for frivolity Frivolity Blondie the gaffe-prone, frivolous wife of Dagwood Bumstead. [Comics: Horn, 118] Dobson, Zuleika charming young lady who unconcernedly dazzles Oxford undergraduates. [Br. Lit. Judges can also fine plaintiffs and lawyers, but Pugsley said a lack of a ``flat and firm rule'' to punish litigation-happy citizens gives some personal injury lawyers the feeling they have ``nothing to lose.'' ``By definition, a frivolous lawsuit is a parasite on the legal system,'' Pugsley says. ``I'm not talking about meritorious lawsuits, I'm talking I'm Talking was a 1980s Australian funk-pop rock band, noted for launching vocalist Kate Ceberano. History After the break-up of the Melbourne-based experimental funk band Essendon Airport in 1983, members Robert Goodge (guitar), Ian Cox (saxophone) and Barbara Hogarth about ones that can be seen through like a transparent shower curtain.'' Cheaure says CALA's primary job is to educate, although the group does have a wish list for legislation that would hopefully trim unnecessary litigation. Cheaure says CALA CALA Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse CALA Chinese American Librarians Association CALA College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture CALA Central America / Latin America CALA Center on Animal Liberation Affairs CALA California Assisted Living Association would like juries to have the option to decide if a lawsuit is frivolous and order the loser to pay court costs court costs n. fees for expenses that the courts pass on to attorneys, who then pass them on to their clients or, in some kinds of cases, to the losing party. and attorneys' fees. David criticizes CALA for oversimplifying the issues. Consider the infamous McDonald's spilled coffee case from New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). . The lawsuit made headlines across the nation and was renowned enough to be mocked on a ``Seinfeld'' episode. The CALA literature asserts: ``A jury awarded $2.7 million to a woman who burned herself after buying coffee at a drive-through window and putting it between her legs. The award was later reduced to $480,000.'' David defends the supposedly frivolous litigant litigant n. any party to a lawsuit. This means plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, cross-complainant, and cross-defendant, but not a witness or attorney. LITIGANT. One engaged in a suit; one fond of litigation. . David claims the liquid was heated 40 degrees higher than most competitors' to get more coffee in the cup, and said the fast food chain ignored complaints asking to cool it down. The moral of the story, David says, is that a two-week trial can't fit on a 2-by-3-inch playing card. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Stu Goodman, left, and his brother Jeff were sued for not allowing a parent to smoke near the dugout while his son played. The suit was thrown out. Gus Ruelas/Daily News |
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