Topic: Nope. Not MY fault. Nosiree....

[Rich]

 


"ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The father of Josh Hancock filed suit Thursday, claiming a restaurant provided drinks to the St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher even though he was intoxicated prior to the crash that killed him.

The suit, filed in St. Louis Circuit Court by Dean Hancock of Tupelo, Miss., does not specify damages. Mike Shannon's Restaurant, owned by the longtime Cardinals broadcaster who starred on three World Series teams in the 1960s, is a defendant in the case along with Shannon's daughter, Patricia Shannon Van Matre, the restaurant manager.
 
Other defendants include Eddie's Towing, the company whose flatbed tow truck was struck by Hancock's sport utility vehicle in the early hours of April 29; tow truck driver Jacob Edward Hargrove; and Justin Tolar, the driver whose stalled car on Interstate 64 was being assisted by Hargrove.

The Cardinals and Major League Baseball were not listed as defendants.

Authorities said the 29-year pitcher had a blood content of nearly twice the legal limit for alcohol in his system when he crashed into the back of the tow truck. He was also speeding, using a cell phone and wasn't wearing a seat belt, Police Chief Joe Mokwa said after the accident. Marijuana also was found in the SUV.

Mokwa said Hancock went to Shannon's not long after the Cardinals played a day game against the Chicago Cubs on April 28. The lawsuit claimed that Hancock was a regular at the restaurant bar and was there for more than 31/2 hours.

"It's understood that for the entire 31/2 hours that Josh Hancock was there that he was handed drinks," Keith Kantack, a lawyer for Dean Hancock, said. "It's our understanding that from the moment Josh Hancock entered Mike Shannon's that night that he was never without a drink."

A person answering phones at the restaurant declined comment. A message left with Van Matre was not returned.

The lawsuit claimed Tolar was negligent in allowing his Geo Prism to reach the point where it stalled on the highway, and for failing to move it out of the way of oncoming traffic. A police report said the Prism became stalled when it spun out after being cut off by another vehicle.

Police said Hargrove noticed the stalled vehicle and stopped to help. The report said he told officers he was there five to seven minutes before his truck was hit by Hancock's SUV. But Kantack said the tow truck may have been there up to 15 minutes, yet failed to get the stalled vehicle out of the way.

"Were the police contacted?" Kantack asked. "Why weren't flares put out? Why was the tow truck there for an exorbitant amount of time?"

Tolar did not have a listed telephone number. Calls to the towing company were met with a busy signal.

Kantack said others could be added later as defendants in the suit. He declined to speculate on whether the Cardinals or Major League Baseball could be added to the suit, but said the Hancock family has been "overwhelmed by the support and respect the Cardinals have shown since Josh's passing."

Dean Hancock said in a statement that the "facts and circumstances" of Josh's death "have caused great pain to all of Josh's family." As administrator of his son's estate, Dean Hancock said he has an obligation to represent the family on all issues, "including any legal actions necessary against those who contributed to the untimely and unnecessary death.""

[Boxer2500]

I guess for some, tying up the courts is a coping mechanism.

[MG]

So, Rich. The reports of your demise were incorrect, then?  Good. 

Now, before y'all get your knickers all twisted around over this, let's get a little perspective, shall we? 

The law is a game. Granted, its a pretty complex game with some sophisticated rules, but it is a game nonetheless. The object of the game, for the lawyers, is to use the courts to pry money out of someone else's pocket and put it into YOUR pocket. If some remains at the end of the process for the client, well, so much the better.   

Asking lawyers to refrain from bring assinine lawsuits is like asking a tow truck driver to pass up that stranded motorist, a chiropodist to refrain from ripping the toe nail off that big toe, a sewer service guy to refrain from pumping your cesspool or a dog groomer not to clip your poodle.  Hey, ya know?  A fella's got to eat.  The fact that most lawyers eat rather well is just proof of how good they are at playing the game.

I was rather a bust out at the lawyering game because I approached it as some grand, magesterial exercise in pursuing JUSTICE, whatever the hell that is. I didn't realize until much too late that there is NO connection whatsoever between justice and the practice of law.  Jeeze, what a schmuck.....

In the game, a lawyer surveys a prospective law suit and asks himself: "How many insurance companies can I throw into the pot before I turn the flame on?"  The best advice is "Sue EVERYBODY!"  Once you have all the insurance companies in your boullibaise, you pit them one against the other and see what results.  The thing is, insurance companies HATE juries. Juries are free radicals and you can never predict with certainty what they might do.  So if you are sitting on a million dollar policy and you can buy your way out for $1000, or 10,000 or $100,000, well, that means you SAVED the difference between what you paid out and the policy limits.  Yup. That's how those boys think. And its ALL because juries scare the bejeezus out of the bean counters at the insurance companies. They cannot do business when the odds, the return on investment and so on are predicated on such an imponderable as what a jury might do. Better to KNOW than to roll the dice and maybe take a really big hit.

So instead of instructing their lawyers to defend vigorously, they wimp out and offer up something. If you get enough companies involved, pretty soon you have some real money, the secretary gets paid on Friday and you get to go play golf in New Zealand once in a while.  Its a nice life.

So save your tirades about what a calamity it is for the family to now be suing everyone in sight. To do otherwise would be like asking a politician not to give a speach.  Its life. Does this mean that lawyers are just like cockroaches? Yes, it does. But cockroaches have survived longer than just about any other species. There must be a reason. And that reason is, they have figured out how to eat regularly.  Same thing with lawyers.

BTW, have you heard that Squibb and Pfizer have started using lawyers instead of lab rats in their experimental laboratories? Its true.  The lab workers find they do not get so emotionally attached to the lawyers. And there were some things the rats just flat out refused to do.     

[Ultra]

So save your tirades about what a calamity it is for the family to now be suing everyone in sight.

There is the rub, MG.  The family should be controlling their lawyers, instead of being controlled by them.

 

[Rich]

Exactly my point, C...I've got no problem w/ attorneys, per se.  They usually only do what their clients tell them to do.  My commentary was my increasing frustration w/ the blame mentality of our society and how, I believe, it plays into the nanny-state.

r

[Ultra]

I believe, it plays into the nanny-state.

As do I.