Editor's Note: Project Lawsuit Abuse regularly highlights lawsuit abuse news from across the country. Today, Melissa Landry, Executive Director of Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch, contributed a guest post for Project Lawsuit Abuse.

Thinking of throwing a parade-watching party this Carnival Season?  Beware: getting too caught up in Mardi Gras madness could leave you in a legal lurch.

Lawsuits happen all the time for seemingly any reason—but the stakes are raised even higher when alcohol is involved, which is often the case this time of year.

Editor's Note: Project Lawsuit Abuse regularly highlights lawsuit abuse news from across the country. Today, Tom Scott, Executive Director of California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, contributed a guest post for Project Lawsuit Abuse.

2013 could have been the year that our nation turned over a new leaf and stopped the mindless class action lawsuits that have plagued businesses in the United States for years. Unfortunately, it is already too late.

Remember how we told you about all of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) shakedown lawsuits in California? They were out of control, with a cottage industry of trial lawyers devoting their entire careers to suing businesses on minor ADA violations.

Editor's Note: Project Lawsuit Abuse regularly highlights lawsuit abuse news from across the country. Today, Travis Akin, Executive Director of Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch, contributed a guest post for Project Lawsuit Abuse.

Subway may soon have to change its slogan from “Eat Fresh” to “Sue Fresh.”

Lawsuits claiming Subway’s famous “footlong” sandwiches are not always a whole foot long have been filed in New Jersey and Chicago. The Chicago lawsuit alleges a "pattern of fraudulent, deceptive and otherwise improper advertising, sales and marketing practices."

Cecelia Lebby, a Connecticut resident, has filed tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of lawsuits at taxpayer expense. Almost all of her claims are ridiculous – for instance, she recently sued the Bret Michaels fan club for 22 million dollars because the club had only sent her a Christmas card, as opposed to “mail for the whole year,” as promised.  Notably, a judge has never ruled in her favor, which gives a pretty good indication of how consistently outrageous her lawsuits are.

Good news out of Virginia – a justice committee in the Virginia House of Delegates recently approved a significant legal reform package. The legislation, which includes six bills in total, will head to the floor of the House of Delegates for final approval on Monday. 

The legislation addresses a number of important lawsuit abuse issues, such as venue shopping, which is the practice of choosing a court based on its reputation for plaintiff-friendly settlements. The legislation also includes measures to streamline the litigation process, ease court case loads and reduce legal costs for businesses.

Editor's Note: Project Lawsuit Abuse regularly highlights lawsuit abuse news from across the country. Today, Tom Scott, Executive Director of California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, contributed a guest post for Project Lawsuit Abuse.

I thought long and hard about whether I should write you. I have known you for a long time and have great respect for the work you do, but I have spent a large part of my life fighting lawsuit abuse and for legal reform.

Followers of Project Lawsuit Abuse know that trial lawyers aren’t always the most upstanding citizens. Remember the New Hampshire lawyer who was disbarred for demanding $2 million in fees from his client the morning of a case? What about the infamous Dickie Scruggs, jailed for bribing a judge?

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.

California... a state for palm trees, fun beaches, tan people, and Judicial Hellholes?

In December, the American Tort Reform Association released its Judicial Hellholes report, our annual compilation of inequities within and abuse of the civil justice system.  Although there were a lot of options to choose from, California easily ranked as the #1 Judicial Hellhole for 2012/2013.

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