Overlawyered

I had forgotten until recently about one of my favorite, but most infuriating, websites called "Overlawyered." Today I read this post, one of those smack your forehead in disbelief kinds of stories:

Deep Pocket Files: Taxpayers responsible for porch collapse?

You may recall the unfortunate collapse of a Chicago porch at a party that killed thirteen and injured 57. Of course there are lawsuits against the building owners and the contractor who built a porch that couldn't support 70 people. But the plaintiffs' attorneys recognize that that insurance and the defendants' underlying assets will run out quickly. Thus, they have sought to join the city of Chicago as a defendant for allegedly failing to enforce building codes. (Because, as anyone who has lived in Chicago knows, what that town needs is more city workers.)

John Ehrlich, the city's chief assistant corporation counsel, told Cook County Judge Jeffrey Lawrence that if he didn't drop the city from the lawsuit, it could lead to suits against other cities for everything from bad restaurant food to house fires. "That makes the city of Chicago an insurer for every single bad incident that occurs on private property. And it makes every city -- every municipality in the state -- an insurer for every bad incident" that happens, Ehrlich said. ''If you allow that to happen, you will have [the] bankruptcy of every single municipality and local government in the state. That is simply untenable."

(Nathaniel Hernandez, "Porch suit threatens Illinois cities: lawyer", Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 24).

I had a similar porch in my old Wrigleyville apartment that wouldn't have allowed 10 people on, much less 70 plus kegs. But, as they pound into your head in law school, you have to go after the deepest possible pockets. Regardless of how moronic it was for the apartment owner to allow that many people on a rickety wooden porch, they want to stick it to the city...even though regulations don't mandate that porches be safe for 70 people. Even if Chicago prevails, they'll still have to waste money defending against this frivilous claim.

Upon reading the story, my first thought was, I wonder how many extra parking tickets they're going to have to issue using guerilla tactics to pay for this one?