The United States of Litigation

Seriously? That was my reaction to the news that Super Boat International Productions President John Carbonell and four other race officials of the annual power boat races in Key West, Florida are being sued for wrongful death in the cases of Jeffery Tillman and Joey Gratton. Robert Morgan also lost his life that race week. The three men perished in two separate power boat mishaps in the Key West races of 2011. Of course, any accidental death is tragic and difficult for surviving family members to accept and this is no exception.

An uncle of Tillman, personal representative of his nephew’s estate, is claiming that race officials were negligent in allowing the deceased to participate, because his boat “did not meet industry safety standards”. The suit goes on to claim his race partner, Mr. Morgan was 74 years old and “had a history of heart problems”. The men died when their 46-foot catamaran, Big Thunder Marine, flipped and crashed in Key West Harbor.

Mr. Gratton’s death was caused by his 38 foot 850-class catamaran, Page Motorsports, rolling over twice and partially sinking. His racing partner, Stephen Page of Fort Meyers survived with only minor injuries. Gratton’s widow, Priscilla Gratton, decided to sue race organizers in 2012 in Broward Circuit Court. The case is scheduled to go to trial in February.

I do not have a heart of stone, in fact quite the opposite, but anyone that knows me or has read previous postings of mine, knows I think these fiberglass abominations are the antithesis of human sanity and an anathema to the natural world. I also know and accept a whole lot of people LOVE these things as feverishly as NASCAR, which to me is another passion of dubious merit. Differing opinions and their acceptance are woven into the fabric of our nation. Think Voltaire. “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Well, I am writing this in defenseof Mr. Carbonell and company despite my negative feelings about power boats. I find it hard to believe, no matter how painful the loss, anyone would or could honestly blame this tragedy on anyone but the deceased themselves. If you lay down on the railroad tracks there is a good chance you are going to get squashed. These men were adult sentient human beings that knowingly climbed into their cock pits and fired up those monster motors with the intent to win the race.

Here’s an interesting factoid; seventy five percent of the planet’s lawyers live and practice in the United States. There is one lawyer to every 265 Americans! That is three times as many lawyers per capita than Great Britain, which is crawling with barristers!  All these lawyers need employment, which could explain the plethora of unreasonable legal claims such as the suit brought against the Super Boat promoters.

Having said that, I do not advocate any laws restricting people’s rights to file a law suit. Often times a law suit is the only recourse to punish criminal behavior and I would not want that option infringed upon. However there seems to be a lack of personal responsibility and simple common sense that has expanded along with the burgeoning army of counselors in this country.

One doesn’t have to look too far for some good examples of embarrassingly shameful law suits filed by “victims” of their own making. One that stands out in my mind was the group of “investors” that wanted to sue a local Key West realtor for their losses after signing a contract on some million dollar condos. The “investors” put very little down with the intent to turn right around and sell them, “earning” (Wall Streetese for stealing) a cool million. Unfortunately for them, the housing market tanked, inspiring said attempted law suit. It never made it to trial.

I am not comparing losing money to losing life, but more to illustrate the prevalence of a lack of ownership and responsibility for one’s actions. I guess all we can hope for is amongst the teeming masses of litigators out there, some wise, pragmatic and level headed Judges will surface and keep our law suit happy culture in line. In the mean time, don’t lay down on the railroad tracks and act surprised when you get run over.