Our friends over at the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York (LRANY) aren’t so keen on their state’s ranking on this year’s Judicial Hellholes Report – released last week by the American Tort Reform Foundation.

New York, which has long been suffering at the hands of lawsuit abuse, only made the watch list last year. Their climb in the rankings certainly isn’t a recognition LRANY is proud of.

Editor's Note: Project Lawsuit Abuse regularly highlights lawsuit abuse news from across the country. Today’s blog post comes to us from Darren McKinney, Director of Communications at The American Tort Reform Association, the only national organization dedicated exclusively to tort and liability reform through public education and the enactment of legislation. 

It’s that time of year again… and no, I’m not referring to the holidays.

Looks like the latest form of lawsuit abuse comes at the hands of lenders—who all too frequently resemble large, dirty, birds of prey.  

Twas the night before Christmas when all through the land
Not a soul was stirring and no parties were planned
Gone are the booze, the festive music and the good food
Because no one wants to host a party for fear of being sued.
 
Holiday parties can and should be fun, but the sad reality of the world in which we live is that people hosting parties could find themselves on the wrong end of a lawsuit if they are not careful.
 
This Holiday Season, make sure to exercise caution with guests in the home or the office. Don’t let people drive who should not be driving. Our litigious society does not take a holiday which is why individuals hosting parties need to be familiar with social host liability.

Our friends over at Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch recently launched a contest encouraging folks to vote on the most outrageous Louisiana lawsuit. Don’t’ live in Louisiana? Don’t worry, you’re still welcome to join in on the fun.

Check out some of the nominees:

• In Opelousas, a man broke the lock and jerry-rigged a gas connection to his home after it was cut off due to non-payment. His home exploded the next day, then he turned around and sued his gas company for more than $15 million.

Happy Friday, Project Lawsuit Abuse readers! We decided to pull this one from the Sick of Lawsuits vault. So sit back, enjoy and let Sick of Lawsuits' 'Tango' take you into the weekend...

Can't get enough of Sick of Lawsuits? Join us on Facebook and Twitter, check out our YouTube page, and head over to our website!

Ain’t it funny in a rich man  politician’s world?  ABBA, you may be onto something…. but we’re not joking around here at Project Lawsuit Abuse.

Under Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, the state of Washington spent almost $300 million of taxpayer dollars to payout tort claims. According to a recent Associated Press article, that’s “$65 million more than was paid out” under the last Attorney General.

What’s so funny about this abuse of state funds?

We always thought that Albuquerque, New Mexico was known for its beautiful adobe style architecture and location on the Rio Grande but here’s a new infamous attribute to associate with “the Duke City”: classroom lawsuits.

This week, ABC News brought us coverage of a student who was sent to the authorities for a loud burp that disrupted the class, a few weeks after he was also searched for marijuana possession. Now the boy is filing a lawsuit against the school for obstructing his civil rights.

‘Tis the season for eggnog, gingerbread, bright lights and… lawsuits? Even the yearly time of cheer – when it truly seems like the spirit of the holidays is all around us – isn’t safe from lawsuits.

Case in point: the holiday party.  

Holiday parties, whether in the home or at the office, seem like the time to unwind and give in to the holiday spirit, but those parties can bring on unfortunate lawsuits if hosts do not exercise caution. As we’re all aware, lawsuits happen all the time for seemingly any reason. The stakes are raised even higher when alcohol is involved.

Tort reformers have been turning up all over the internet over the past few days. We took the liberty of rounding up some of the standouts that hit over the past week. You may recognize a few friends of Project Lawsuit Abuse in there. Here are some of the newsmakers from around the country: