That is absurd.  Just like the coffee and McDonalds lady.  Duh, what happens when you put hot coffee between your legs and spill?

I once managed a water park.  I had one law suit against the park and me as an individual.  This woman sued because her daughter got pregnant.  The daughter told mom that it must have been when she was at the water park and swimming in the Wave Pool.  We actually ended up before a court--all I did was produce the chemical make up of the water with the avg. temp.  Judge threw it out at that point.  Mom still believes it was in the water.

I believe a lot of times these awards are reduced significantly by the judge or someone in the end.  I think the McDonald's coffee award was reduced substantially if I remember right.  I also suspect that we only hear about the most outlandish cases.  My co-worker recently served on a jury hearing an accident case where the victim was suing.  The jury saw through the lawyer's outlandish claims and ended up awarding the victim something like $10.

I agree that it's ridiculous what people sue over these days, but I'm also happy to live in a free country where I have the right to sue if I feel I was wronged. 

Lawyers' fees, on the other hand, are quite another story.  I remember reading about a billing method used by some lawyers where they bill the case for 24 hours a day of work or something ridiculous like that.  I guess that's how they rake in the bucks....

Unfortunately, it's the people that actually have a case that are hurt by these frivolous lawsuits.  My mother had a dentist pull a tooth.  When he did, he actually chipped her jaw.  Ouch!  She ended up having to go to another dentist and then to an oral surgeon.  She was in misery for a very long time.  She consulted a couple of attorney's and all they said was that she would never get any money for it and they wouldn't take the case because there wasn't enough money in it for them.  That is just ridiculous! 

Here is an e-mail that I received that I wanted to pass on.  You may have seen it, you may not have, but either way, it's incredible what people are getting away with.

Stella Awards
 
It's once again time to review the winners of the annual Stella Awards.
 
The Stella's' are named after 81-year old Stella Liebeck who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's. That case inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous successful lawsuits in the United States.
 
THIS YEAR'S AWARDS GO TO:
 
5TH PLACE (TIED): Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $780,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.
 
5TH PLACE (TIED): A man, 19-year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles, won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently did not notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal the hubcaps.
 
4TH PLACE: Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas was awarded $14,500--and medical expenses--after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's beagle dog. The beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. The award was less than sought for because the jury felt the dog might have been a little provoked. At the time, Mr. Williams, who had climbed over the fence into the yard, had been shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.
 
3RD PLACE: A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier, during an argument.
 
2ND PLACE: Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner of a nightclub in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out two of her front teeth. This occurred while Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the window of the Ladies Room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.
 
1ST PLACE: This year's runaway winner was Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new Winnebago Motor home.  On his trip home from an OU football game, having driven onto the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the owner's manual that he could not actually do this. The jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago Motorhome. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit just in case there were any other complete morons buying their recreational vehicles!