Facebook, Social Media, Social Networking Websites, Technology, Tort Reform

File Your Own Frivolous Lawsuit Here!

A fun new app lets you generate absurd fact patterns with the click of a button.

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Have you ever sat around and thought, “Hey, I’d love to file a frivolous, nay sanctionable, lawsuit,” but just didn’t know where to get started? Well, you’re in luck — there’s an app for that! Never again will you be left wondering about just how crazy you can get with your harassing complaint.

Hurray for the Internet!

The folks behind it are trying to make a serious point about the high price of frivolous lawsuits. Not sure their motives are entirely pure, but it’s a fun little toy to play with, so let’s do that, shall we?

The Facebook app is available here. Basically you enter your name and the type of suit you’re pursuing, and out pops a frivolous lawsuit ready for the pages of ATL. For example, here’s a class action I could file:

You Are Joining A Multi Septillion Dollar Lawsuit Because Your Electric Toothbrush Did Not Help You Learn A 2nd Language.

Or a product misuse claim:

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You Are Suing For $100 Septillion Because You Hurt Your Pinky Toe Using Hot Sauce To Cut Down A Tree.

Or an emotional distress suit:

You Are Suing For $70 Million For Emotional Distress Because Your Blender Did Not Keep Your Shirts White.

Or good old negligence:

You Are Suing Your Neighbor For $1 Million Because They Did Not Help You Sleep Better.

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Hm. That depends on the neighbor, I suppose.

In any event, it’s a fun little diversion with a less than innocent purpose. There are certainly frivolous lawsuits in this world — and there are practices that even I’m not sure about — but when dedicated organizations talk about “tort reform,” they often fixate on the most ridiculous possible example in an effort to trick the audience into accepting the generalization that a lonely example of craziness stands in for the whole of civil litigation. I love funny lawsuits, actual and threatened, as much as the next person. But highlighting Woman using a urinal leads to man’s “emotional distress” has less to do with putting a stop to urinal suits than with mobilizing political support to quell Chemical Company Poisoned All Our Water lawsuits (sorry, West Virginia).

With this app, Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York is going one step further. Unsatisfied with the reality of stupid lawsuits, they’ve created a PR machine to make up fictional, absurd, and downright impossible lawsuits to further embed the prejudice that lawyers are constantly pursuing meritless claims and that legislative action is necessary to cap these suits.

So enjoy the game, consider tort reform measures on their merits, but don’t fall for the hasty generalization that a few dumb suits justify laws that could put a dent in suits that advance the public interest.

Frivolous Lawsuit Generator [Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York]

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