The 2013 CALA Legal Turkey Awards

With Thanksgiving coming up, we should all take some time to be thankful for what we have. Our nation, despite some problems, is still the greatest nation in the world.

One of those problems is the ongoing abuse of our legal system. It seems like there is not a day, week or year that goes by that we cannot point to an example of the utter abuse of our legal system. Why do we continue to allow the civil justice system to be abused for personal gain?

This year is no exception and lawsuit abuse turkeys come in all sizes. This year, we decided to give out Legal Turkey Awards. Here are the winners:

1. Unpaid Intern Lawsuits – This is probably just the beginning of a slew of intern-related lawsuits.

2. Yelp Class Action – Voluntary reviewers means no payment necessary.

3. CA Personal Privacy Initiative – This might have gone away for now, but it won’t be gone forever.

4. The Initiative Attacking MICRA – This is an attempt to make it easier and more lucrative for lawyers to file lawsuits against health care providers and generate more in legal fees.

5. The 13 year Old Lead Paint Lawsuit – With little scientific evidence in their favor, trial lawyers are moving the goal posts to make it easier for them to score a massive verdict in this case.

6. Wage and Hour Lawsuits – For the fifth year in a row we have seen these lawsuits continue to grow. Is there no end in sight?

7. ADA Lawsuits – Despite minor reform in 2012, the abuse continues and seems to be targeted at low income communities and minority business owners.

8. Food Lawsuits – California is the epicenter for food lawsuits. Between 2008-20012 over 186 class actions have been filed in CA alone, more than any other state.

9. Proposition 65 Shakedowns – Although Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s AB 227 will help, the Prop. 65 shakedown lawsuits continue.

10. Class Action Lawsuit Against Budweiser – If it was not so ridiculous, I probably would not even write about it.

So there you have it. While there has been some legal reform in 2013, we still have a long way to go. For every inch we crawl forward, the trial lawyers are constantly looking for new avenues to sue and everything and anything is on the table.

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your time with family and friends.