Lawsuits, from the Laughable to Legitimate

Every so often, a lawsuit is filed that prompts reactions ranging from head-scratching to soul-searching to full-throated cries of "What's this world coming to?" This is one of those times. The 250-word story that quickly ricocheted around the Internet late last month had to do with a middle-aged New Jersey woman, Elizabeth Lloyd, who two years ago was struck in the face by a baseball and is now suing the Little Leaguer who threw it. Catcher Matthew Migliaccio, 11 years old at the time (now 13 and pictured below), was warming up a pitcher and overthrew him, striking Lloyd as she sat at a picnic table near the fenced-in bullpen. Lloyd's suit, which alleges that the boy's actions were negligent and careless through "engaging in inappropriate physical and/or sporting activity" near her, seeks more than $150,000 in damages to cover medical costs and an undefined amount for pain and suffering.

LittleLeagueCatcher.jpgLittleLeagueCatcher.jpgPhoto courtesy of Asbury Park PressIs suing a wild-throwing Little Leaguer the very definition of frivolous? Many people think so. And yet, for every sports- or recreation-related lawsuit laughed out of court, you find a defendant snagged on a valid point of law. Here's a compendium, assisted by Google, Lexis-Nexis and especially the Marquette Sports Law Review's 2011 survey of court decisions, of America's most frivolous recent lawsuits - or are they?

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