Why I Hate Lawyers - And The People Who Hire Them

In the wake of one of the worst mass murders in U.S. history, it was inevitable that sooner rather than later the lawsuits would begin. Sure enough, yesterday the first one was filed - by someone who wasn't even injured.

Torrence Brown Jr., one of the Aurora movie shooting survivors, is planning on suing the theater, confirmed his family's publicist on Wednesday. "We're going to make sure whoever is accountable is going to take responsibility for this tragedy," Cassandra Williams of Wet PR said ... She added that Brown, 18, is seeking therapy and is emotionally distraught after the shooting.

Just to be clear, Torrence Brown wasn't physically injured. His claim is based on 'mental trauma.'

What's not clear to me is why his family needs a publicist. Are they famous? Or do they plan on becoming famous as a result of this lawsuit? And how are they paying her? Are they rich? (If so, they didn't build it by themselves...) Or is the publicist working on a contingency basis, like the low-life blood-sucking scum lawyers?

Brown has hired attorney Donald Karpel to represent him.  Karpel ... is targeting 3 defendants.

1.  The theater.  Karpel claims it was negligent for the theater to have an emergency door in the front that was not alarmed or guarded.  It's widely believed Holmes entered the theater with a ticket,  propped the emergency door open from inside, went to his car and returned with guns.

2.  Holmes' doctors.  Karpel says it appears Holmes was on several medications -- prescribed by one or more doctors --  at the time of the shooting and he believes the docs did not properly monitor Holmes.

3.  Warner Bros.  Karpel says "Dark Knight Rises" was particularly violent and Holmes mimicked some of the action.  The attorney says theater goers were helpless because they thought the shooter was part of the movie.  Karpel tells TMZ, "Somebody has to be responsible for the rampant violence that is shown today."

Taking the three defendants in order:

1.  If anything, the theater should be sued for being a gun-free zone. If there had been one or more legally armed customers present it's quite likely that the number of dead and wounded would have been much lower.

J.H. Verkerke, director of the University of Virginia Law School's Program for Employment and Labor Law, told Yahoo News that in general, it would be difficult to win a claim against a theater in this type of situation unless you could prove that the theater should have known about the threat and that its safety standards are below average compared to most movie theaters.

2.  How are the doctors expected to monitor Holmes' condition? Spy on him? Forcibly draw blood from him? I suppose that if there were warning signs that indicated Holmes presented a danger there might be some liability, but that seems like it would be very difficult to prove.

3.  Every time a conservative speaks out against violence in movies or video games, the left erupts in ridicule. I'm not holding my breath waiting for the same reaction against Torrence and his low-life blood-sucking scum lawyer.

It is painfully obvious that this is nothing more than bald-faced extortion. Brown and his low-life blood-sucking scum lawyer are hoping that the defendants settle out of court to avoid the expense and publicity of a public trial. I understand the cost-benefit tradeoff of settling, but I wish the defendants had the balls and money to just say "Bring it on, assholes."

This sad case is just one example of why the U.S. needs sweeping tort reform.

Today, America's $246 billion civil justice system is the most expensive in the industrialized world. Aggressive personal injury lawyers target certain professions, industries, and individual companies as profit centers. They systematically recruit clients who may never have suffered a real illness or injury and use scare tactics, combined with the promise of awards, to bring these people into massive class action suits. They effectively tap the media to rally sentiment for multi-million-dollar punitive damage awards. This leads many companies to settle questionable lawsuits just to stay out of court.

These lawsuits are bad for business; they are also bad for society. They compromise access to affordable health care, punish consumers by raising the cost of goods and services, chill innovation, and undermine the notion of personal responsibility. The personal injury lawyers who benefit from the status quo use their fees to perpetuate the cycle of lawsuit abuse. They have reinvested millions of dollars into the political process and in more litigation that acts as a drag on our economy. Some have compared the political and judicial influence of the personal injury bar to a fourth branch of government.

Trail lawyers are just another democrat obstacle to business growth, job creation, and social justice.

John Edwards is the best example of a trial lawyer that I can think of...