End of Year Lists

Over at Lowering the Bar:  Legal Humor. Seriously, Mr. Underhill has released his Lowering the Bar 2009 Awards showing us the "best of 2009's worst."  Here's a couple of the nominees for Best Lawsuit:

•Speaking of banks, reports in July said that Wells Fargo had sued itself in Florida. Depending on who you ask, this was either a really clever strategy or a thoroughly stupid mistake.


•Hilton v. San Francisco Int'l Airport, et al.: Stanley G. Hilton sued lots of people, including his realtors and the airport, for allegedly failing to warn him that his house was close to the airport. He blamed the noise, pollution and stress for his divorce.

•White v. Wal-Mart: Plaintiff sued for injuries she suffered in a store when a “large wild nutria” jumped out. (She panicked and ran over her own foot with a shopping cart.) White argued Wal-Mart was responsible because its employees harbored the rodent, claiming they had given it a name. “You had an encounter with Norman,” one allegedly told her.

•Elliott v. Keyes, et al.: in March, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Elliott sued the United Pentecostal Church and its pastor alleging that he had knocked her over backward while “laying hands” on participants in a church service, and did not apologize afterward. There was a similar case last year in Tennessee.