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A lawsuit targeting California coffee houses for not including warning labels on their products tops the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform’s (ILR) list of the Top 10 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2018. This year’s list features lawsuits by a rude French waiter and over cheese on a McDonald’s hamburger.

The ILR is an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that lobbies for court, tort reforms and litigation reforms on behalf of businesses. Each year it identifies extreme court cases and trial lawyer activities it believes are meritless, abusive or wasteful. Its Faces of Lawsuit Abuse campaign highlights what the Chamber sees as “absurd and ridiculous lawsuits” across America and around the world.

“These individual lawsuits may be good for a laugh, but the collective impact of excessive litigation on society is no joke,” said ILR President Lisa A. Rickard.

Not surprisingly, the busIness-oriented ILR takes a very different view of the civil justice system than the American Association for Justice that represents the country’s trial lawyers. The AAJ has identified what it says are the “worst cases of corporate conduct” for 2018, cases that have brought various lawsuits and show why, in its view, the civil justice system is so important. The AAJ’s worst cases include predatory student lending by Navient, the failure by Takata to replace all of its defective air bags, and State Farm’s secret campaign to install a favorable judicial candidate on the Illinois Supreme Court.

ILR says the tort system costs every U.S. household more than $3,300 each year, on average.

ILR’s Top 10 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2018 from are:

1. (Los Angeles, California)
2. (Brooklyn, New York)
3. (Chicago, Illinois)
4. (The Netherlands)
5. (Vancouver, Canada)
6. (Hamilton County, Florida)
7. (San Jose, California)
8. (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
9. (Buffalo, New York)
10. (Syracuse, New York)

Source: U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform

Related:

• Trial Lawyers Cite ‘Worst Corporate Conduct’ of 2018

Topics Lawsuits USA California New York