BP, get the spoons.....

[TiAvenger]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6170554.html

Convicted last year of intoxication manslaughter for the death of her boyfriend, the 21-year-old daughter of a state district judge is suing the truck driver she ran into during a drunken driving crash.

Elizabeth Shelton, the daughter of juvenile judge Pat Shelton, is accusing truck driver Lance Bennett of negligence in the Oct. 23, 2007, wreck that killed her boyfriend Matthew McNiece.

Shelton had a blood alcohol concentration more than three times the legal limit, two tests showed. She was sentenced to eight years' probation and had to serve four months in jail.

Shelton, her family and the family of the boyfriend who was killed are suing for $20,000 for the destruction of the Lexus SUV she was driving and an undetermined amount for mental anguish, pain and suffering.

Bennett was driving the box truck that Shelton rear-ended on the Southwest Freeway near Kirby around 2 a.m.

Bennett's attorney, John Havins, said the lawsuit, filed in October, was the last chance to make a claim before the statute of limitations ran out.

He noted that Shelton named 16 defendants, including insurance companies and banks. "They're just throwing everything against the wall to see if anything sticks," Havins said.

During Shelton's trial, an expert for the defense testified there was evidence that Bennett swerved into Shelton's lane. An expert for the prosecution, however, said there wasn't evidence that Bennett got in her way.

Testimony also showed that the company Bennett was working for let the insurance on the truck lapse.

"The injuries and property damage sustained by (Shelton and her family) were not the result of intentional acts, but were accidental and caused by the negligence of the uninsured/underinsured driver," Shelton's attorney Mark Sandoval wrote in the lawsuit.

[the_Journeyman]

Wow...  Talk about not accepting personal responsibility...

JM

[Porsche Monkey]

And her dad's a judge.  Wonder how much of a part he is taking in this.

[CowboyBeebop]

The ambulance-chasing lawyer gets it first.

[Oldfisti]

Wow...  Talk about not accepting personal responsibility...

JM

  Reminds me of the burglar(s) who sue the homeowner for getting injured (shot or otherwise) during the break-in.  

[the_Journeyman]

Yup.  Sounds like her and daddy both need to accept the fact she had and "oopsie"

We studied a case where a burgler fell through a skylight landing a kitchen counter & was badly cut by a knife laying there.  Sued.  Sucessful.  I can't stand it.

JM

[Oldfisti]

And her dad's a judge.  Wonder how much of a part he is taking in this.

Probably quite a bit...   

[CowboyBeebop]

A bike messenger ran into my PARKED car.  Car was parked legally.  Cop gave the messenger a ticket for not maintaining her lane (riding in the parking lane - she was splitting lanes) and not wearing a helmet.  THREE years later I got a call from a lawyer representing the messenger.  Right before the statute of limitations ran out, they sued.  My insurance settled.  I hate lawyers.

[TiAvenger]

A bike messenger ran into my PARKED car.  Car was parked legally.  Cop gave the messenger a ticket for not maintaining her lane (riding in the parking lane - she was splitting lanes) and not wearing a helmet.  THREE years later I got a call from a lawyer representing the messenger.  Right before the statute of limitations ran out, they sued.  My insurance settled.  I hate lawyers.

Did it go on your insurance record?

[the_Journeyman]

A bike messenger ran into my PARKED car.  Car was parked legally.  Cop gave the messenger a ticket for not maintaining her lane (riding in the parking lane - she was splitting lanes) and not wearing a helmet.  THREE years later I got a call from a lawyer representing the messenger.  Right before the statute of limitations ran out, they sued.  My insurance settled.  I hate lawyers.

What grounds were they able to sue for?  Your car being in their way even though it was legally parked?

JM

[CowboyBeebop]

Did it go on your insurance record?

I don't know - I never checked.  My rate never went up.  I had a spotless record for 10 years (I've only gotten 1 speeding ticket in my entire life) prior, and ever since.  I was angry that they settled, but they explained to me that, though they were certain they could win the case, it was easier and cheaper to settle, which is exactly what her ambulance-chasing excuse for a lawyer was counting on.  Personally, I didn't care about my record or my rate, it was more about principle.  I did nothing wrong, and yet she still got a 5 figure settlement.  It was basically legally-sanctioned theft.

What grounds were they able to sue for?  Your car being in their way even though it was legally parked?

JM

No grounds - you can sue for whatever you want.  As I said, even the police report cited her (which, by the way, means nothing in civil court apparently).  Multiple witnesses gave statements corroborating her negligence.  It was a total shakedown.  And people wonder why insurance costs so much.

[the_Journeyman]

I don't know - I never checked.  My rate never went up.  I had a spotless record for 10 years (I've only gotten 1 speeding ticket in my entire life) prior, and ever since.  I was angry that they settled, but they explained to me that, though they were certain they could win the case, it was easier and cheaper to settle, which is exactly what her ambulance-chasing excuse for a lawyer was counting on.  Personally, I didn't care about my record or my rate, it was more about principle.  I did nothing wrong, and yet she still got a 5 figure settlement.  It was basically legally-sanctioned theft.

No grounds - you can sue for whatever you want.  As I said, even the police report cited her (which, by the way, means nothing in civil court apparently).  Multiple witnesses gave statements corroborating her negligence.  It was a total shakedown.  And people wonder why insurance costs so much.

I though insurance companies were trying to crack down in insurance fraud! 

JM

[CowboyBeebop]

I though insurance companies were trying to crack down in insurance fraud! 

JM

They played chicken with the other attorney for a while, then two weeks before the case was supposed to go to court, they settled.  It wasn't a high-five-figure sum, so I understand when they say they would save money by not trying it.  But if it were my company, I'd rather pay more in attorney fees than settlements, as it would discourage personal injury lawyers.  I now make a large donation every year to the largest tort-reform lobby in the country.  I am under no illusion that they will ever be successful in reforming the tort system.  Almost all politicians are lawyers, and they take care of their own (the lawyer lobby is one of the most powerful lobbying bodies in the country, and they donate millions and millions to politicians ever year). 

[erkishhorde]

Yeah, if it were me running the insurance company I'd take 'em to court and crush them just to waste their money so that I'm not the only one losing. I'm spiteful like that. If you're going to make me bleed I'm gonna make you bleed too. 

I still the the OP news article is total BS though. Cases like that just make me lose more and more of the little bit of faith I have in humanity.

[Statler]

With all the talk of personal responsability, I'm surprised you guys don't blame the client for initiating the lawsuit.   It takes a greedy asshole client before anything else can be done.

And Bar Associations, while strong lobbyists, often are the driving force for tort reform because the BS cases make legit ones more difficult.   You guys (and I guess most people) have quite skewed ideas of what lawyers actually do and what they actually can do.

and the politicians taking care of lawyers?  tinfoil hat time? 

Now excuse me, I have to get back to the secret meeting where all the high power people sit around and think of ways to get richer while screwing all the sheeple.