IngenereAMG

This afternoon I received a notice from a goverment claims representitive naming MB as the defendent.

When I opened it......there was a notice of a CLASS ACTION SUIT brought by Karl Susman, Raj Gulrajani and John Selback. Was this suit about some sort of important safety issue?........NO. Was it about a critical manufacturers defect.........NO. It was because some people didn't receive a front license plate bracket!!! I could not believe that someone would waste time, effort and money to obtain a $10 bracket! That was until I saw what the lawyers were in it for.......

Wayne S. Kreger and Belvin Allen of Milstein, Adelman & Kreger (2800 Donald DOuglas Loop, North Santa Monica, CA)

The attorneys, for their trouble get.........$60,000!! for this money making scam. The plaintiffs get a bracket....and if you bought a new Merc from 2000 to 2004, and didn't get one, you can get one too.

I was appauled........the 3 plantiffs, as well as their lawyers should be ashamed of themselves. If you needed a bracket, I am sure that the dealer would give it to you....and if they don't...........spend the $10. And the slime attorneys should hang their heads. It is worthless actions like this which contribute to the fact that we don't get alot of great cars in the US that are available elsewhere. It jams the legal system, costs taxpayor/manufacturer dollars and makes less room for people with REAL problems. And finally.......who ends up paying for this...........the consumer who will pay more for their car.
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patrick_y

It is unfortunate that we live in a sue happy country.

Very unethical men some lawyers are.

I'm speechless. I don't know what to say...

Vik888

The front license plate should be done away with from all cars anyway. Especially on cars like the SL, it looks UGLY.

They could convert in the front to the european style.

ClayJ

Talk to all of the folks in London who lost their beloved double-decker buses because of the gal who got hurt getting off of one....

It is not just the USA where liability issues and cheap opportunists ruin the day....

IanSL55

I have a friend fighting a class-action suit against his bar for having a LADIES NIGHT where women got discounted drinks. The suit wants to punish him (fiscally) for sexual discrimination against men.

~ Ian

seattlecarfreak

me and my business have been sued over 4 times for over $300,000,000 for the most ridiculous reasons in the world.. some class action suits.. as soon as the lawyers filed the suit.. within days.. all four wanted to settle for a monetary amount without anything else being solved.. never paid a dime to any of the plantiffs for any of them of course... unfortunately i wish i could say the same for lawyer fees..

the worst are these lawyers that form class action lawsuits suing for like $300,000,000 for the "sake" of people.. and the huge law firms collect like $75,000,000.. (25%) while the people involved may get a check for $1.50 in the mail.. gee thanks guys.. what would i do without that $1.50 check..

many people in this country, along with many lawyers make their living doing this.. unfortunate as it is.. i read somewhere, that if you make over $100,000 a year, the chances of being sued for everything you have in your lifetime is 1 in 4.

it's unfortunate, one works their entire life and in an instant in the US, one jackass can take it away.. it's worse for big corporations though.. they get sued countless times daily.. and just settle these nuisance suits for $15k to $20k usually per person.. instead of dealing with the costs involved.. thanks to these lawsuits, we all end up paying more for everything... wonder why that item is 2 times the cost than it normally should be? thanks lawyers..

while it may be bad in other countries, nothing compares to the good old united states... in europe atleast there are reprucusions for anyone that sues and doesn't win or sues under ridiculous terms...

IngenereAMG

I have seen lawyers who 'solicit; for class action suits. Some atty. friends of mine tell me that its a huge business. The 'injured parties' get some pittance, and they get a huge payday.

benzmodz

I remember the proceedings of one 1800's murder trial in Texas where the defendant got up to answer the charge of murder before the judge.

" He needed a shootin' "

The jury nodded their heads in agreement.

Similarly where the law permits every person to carry a gun there is no crime and no lawyers are needed.

Seems logical doesnt it ..... political correctness causes social inequity.

IngenereAMG

PC and not possibly offending anyone, or telling them the truth because their self esteem might get bruised is contributing to the disasters of this society....as well as the continued dumbing down of America as we continue to lower the standards.

Juice it

We need serious tort reform in this country. When people start having to pay for opposing council and all court related costs if there frivolous lawsuit doesn't go the way they planned the dockets would clear right up. Sue first and ask questions later mentality among other things has made a joke out of our legal system.

Vik888

thats why a lot of wealthy people keep a lot of assets offshore .. you still follow the law and pay taxes, its not about hiding from the tax man .. its hiding from the society we live in.

CY

The liscense plate holder is $120+, according to my body shop.

seattlecarfreak

that doesn't always help much.. if one loses a lawsuit, all someone has to do is bring them in for a deposition and ask them about their assets. if they lie about what they have and find out about it.. which is easy now thanks to the lax protection after the patriot act.. the judge can say "take the money out" or you go to prison..

lie about assets? go to prison for contempt of court..

ClayJ

Never, never, never lie in court......

A_B

........ or an internet forum.


Unfortunetly the law system is Canada is becoming a joke and contributing to higher insurance premiums. When asked why the insurance premiums in rural parts of Canada(yes not all of Canada is rural :P) I was told its because people are learning to sue each other..... kind of sad really.
Canada takes its court system pretty seriously but some of these people now just take it as a joke, just the other day somebody tried taking a picture with a cellphone of her boyfriend who is charged for shooting an innocent girl when he was in the prisoner's box. I can't stand the way the legal system is heading, its partly the governments fault and moreso the people exploiting it.

Vik888

You dont have to lie about it in court. They are free to go re-file the case overseas to collect those assets .. will they win the case? No. Will you lose those assets? No.

They cannot take a judgement passed in the U.S. and go collect an asset in another country.

We're talking civil cases of course here ..

regor60

A judge can make any prouncement he wants, appeal later. If he says produce the asset or go to jail, then that's it barring appeal. The system only has to collect from you. It won't work to say, sorry it's overseas, go file there

seattlecarfreak

Yes of course they can. It happens most all the time. Offshore banks aren't secure havens like they used to. Most any judge in a civil case will procure you to collect the funds from the overseas account. If you refuse to do so, you can be found contempt in court and be imprisoned or fined for every day you refuse to follow the court orders.

The opposing counsel will simply file a document indicating you refused to follow the court order and you will then be found in contempt of court. Doesn't matter where in the world your money is located.

I've been sued for over $300 million dollars involving 4 lawsuits... All this has been discussed, researched and done.

There are only two ways to avoid having your overseas assets taken away from a judgement.

1) lie and risk going to prison for contempt of court, and not a good idea.. since any decent collection lawyers can find assets due to the paper trails that are left behind. And if you lie in court, a judge can throw you in jail immediately and may take it personally and do just that.

2) pray to god that the judge won't force you to procure funds from your overseas bank account if you have one. (which is rare if the opposing counsel requests it.)

As long as you are a citizen of the US, depending on the jurisdiction where the case was filed, you MUST follow the judge's orders.. If a judge tells you to fly to zambia and go to the bank and take the money out in person and then pet a bunch of monkies.. you have to do it...

But of course, only the opposing council can enforce it.. if they file briefs that say you didn't do what the judge ordered.. then it's bad news for you...

Vik888

What if its not money, but assets as in houses or whatever.

seattlecarfreak

Then all they have to do is file a legal brief to have the house sold at auction and collect the proceeds.

dharrar

In 1991 I had a new '92 600SEL on order and was concerned that it might arrive with a front license plate on the bumper that is not required in Pennsylvania. I wrote to the then President of MB of North America, Mr. Krampe and asked to have my car delivered as shown in the brochure with a "clean uncluttered front bumper." I received a reply that the factory in Sindelfingen acknowledged the car would be produced without the plate.I later learned that the front mounting plates were installed at the vehicle preparation center in Baltimore, MD.

When the 600 was at the VPC I went with my dealer sales rep to pick it up and upon arrival at the VPC the first thing I asked about was the plate. I was told, "We now have instructions from the factory in Germany to no longer automatically drill the bumper and install the plate for any Mercedes and your car arrived with a spare front bumper just in case we overlooked the memo!" Apparently my request initiated a permanent change.

I always thought it was silly to automatically drill the bumper and mount the plate and was glad I complained. On the other hand, dealers continue to take the step even when it might not be necessary. My son recently ordered and took delivery of an ML350 from a dealer in NJ. He made it a point to tell them NOT to put the front bracket on since he lives here in PA. I drove him to claim the car and you can guess the rest. The bumper was drilled and the mounting bracket installed. The dealer apologized and said they would order a replacement bumper but the inconvenience, with the location almost 100 away, precluded doing anything. Wouldn't it be nice for all states to abolish the need for a front plate. Some Mercedes, particularly the SLR, look absolutely ridiculous with the front plate.

I've taken Euro delivery on two occasions for E-Class cars for my wife. Of course you not only end up with a front plate but the plates are an odd size. My wife likes me to leave the German plate on the front so it is not a problem. I have often thought, however, how great it would be to take delivery of an AMG performance Mercedes in Germany. While there is no monetary saving, driving my own SL55 on the Autobahn would have been worth it. On the other hand, the car will end up back here with the front bumper drilled and that was more of a "negative" so I've settled to simply drive less performance vehicles when I visit Germany.

You are correct, for whatever reason someone didn't get a front bracket is the most ludicrous reason for a law suit I've heard of. This one belongs among the list of the annual ten worst named after the women who spilled McDonalds coffee, you know where!

seattlecarfreak

The ONLY reason for a front plate is to it makes it easier for law enforcement to give you tickets or to identify your car more easily for giving you tickets.. they don't care about aestetics.. they especially love the law with all the new red light cameras in various states...

blueSL

There's no question that people in the US are more litigious than elsewhere, the feeling that any mis-fortune is someone else's fault and it's a trend we're following here in the UK.

Another trend is those companies and individuals who file widely drawn patents of questionable value and then sue companies who've made a success of something. The Blackberry law suit was a case in point. Far from encouraging innovation, which is what patents are supposed to do, they are coming to have exactly the opposite effect because introducing something new is either a case of negotiating your way through a mine field of dubious patents or negotiating unrealistic licence fees with greedy "inventors". It gets to the point where the only benefit of licencing a patent is nothing to do with the patent itself, just that you will not be sued.

TA-9FF

I don't like this country anymore.

Doctodd33

"With more than 50 million iPods sold worldwide, the vast majority of our customers are extremely happy with their iPods,'' she said, adding an iPod is designed to last four years.

But several groups have sued Apple, alleging the device is defective. Last August, Apple settled a class-action lawsuit in which plaintiffs claimed Apple had misrepresented the durability of iPod batteries. Another class-action lawsuit is pending in Los Angeles, charging the screen of the nano breaks or scratches with regular use."

Two simple explanations.....A lawyer goes where the money is; and everyone in this country is held accountable....it is that simple. You can either blame or applaud. Applaud that our country isnt like some other countries where the law is applied by anyone with a gun. Or you can blame law schools who pump out large classes of new lawyers 2 or 3 times a year, compared to medical schools who only graduate classes once a year.

I read in the Motor Trend with the GT500 Mustang on the cover that one British car company(i think TVR which donated a car to John Travolta for the movie Swordfish...correct me if im wrong) didnt want to sell cars to the US anymore cuz customers were pissed and sued whenever the car had a mechanical problem, which was often.

T