Coming Soon to a Theater Near You: ‘Lawsuit Abuse’ Horror Stories
Screen shot of “Faces of Lawsuit Abuse Short Films”
movie trailer on YouTube.
Next time you settle in for a movie, you may be served up a “lawsuit abuse” horror story with your popcorn.
There’s the case of 7-year-old Scott Swimm, sued for causing the fall of an adult skier who abruptly turned in front of him. And the story of a Maryland pool supply business sued for $750,000 when a wild goose nesting near the store startled a passerby and caused her to fall. Swimm’s family settled; the woman who sued over the goose lost her case at trial.
The trailers, which can be viewed online, are sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform, according to a press release. They are among four short ads airing this month in select theaters in Washington, D.C., Denver and Baton Rouge, La., the National Law Journal reports.
“Lawsuits are turning the American dream into a litigation horror film,” ILR president Lisa Rickard says in the press release.
But lawyers involved in the wild goose lawsuit—including the defense lawyer—are taking issue with the trailer’s spin on the case.
Anthony Dwyer, who represented the Rockville, Md., pool supply business, Contemporary Watercrafters, thinks the case merited a defense win, the Maryland Daily Record reports. But he told the newspaper he has lost weaker claims and questions whether it’s the best example of lawsuit abuse.
“I’m not sure if it’s an ideal model for that topic,” Dwyer told the publication. “There was an allegation that the employees of the store were feeding [the geese and] that they had adopted them pretty much as pets.”
