People get injured every day. Most of the time, it’s because of other people’s negligence or lack of responsibility. However, what is perceived as responsibility and/or negligence can sometimes take hilarious turns.
As a result, personal injury lawyers have to take care of seemingly funny claims that turn out to be extremely profitable for them and their clients!
Let’s take a look at not only the hilarious personal injury cases in the world but also the incredible rewards of some of them!
Suing the Phone Book
This particular case comes from an actual personal injury lawyer.
The lawyer claimed that a bad picture of him found within Westmoreland County’s yellow book was scaring away people that could’ve been his clients. According to the lawyer, his picture’s bad reproduction was worth $500 thousand in punitive damages.
Bubble Damage
A prankster once poured detergent in a public fountain in Canal Park, Duluth. This caused a mountain of bubbles around said fountain.
A pedestrian, Kathy Kelly, happened to be walking by, slipped, and then fall into the fountain. Obviously, she got injured. However, the injury also got infected, and Kathy required medical interventions worth approximately $43 thousand.
She then sued the city because the workers, despite being timely notified, weren’t able to clean up the fountain’s surroundings. Kelly ended up being awarded $125 thousand for her trouble!
Thumb Injury
A man was struggling to open a door that had no doorknob on it – quite difficult, right? Simultaneously, another person who wanted to enter the bathroom pushed the door, causing a thumb injury for the first person.
The result? The first individual required surgery but also had to skip work for six months to recover. Because of this, the injured man sued the entities responsible for his injury.
In the end, he was awarded the outrageous amount of $3,750,000!
The Anguished Thief
While the house owners were on holiday, thief Terrance Dickson decided to, simply put, rob it. His plan was to use the garage door for a swift exit with his loot. However, he came across two problems!
First of all, the garage door didn’t seem to function properly. Then, when he tried to use the other available door, it malfunctioned as well. As a result, Dickson got trapped in the house’s garage for eight straight days, having to survive only on soda and dog food.
When he finally got out, he sued the owners for mental anguish. He was awarded half a million dollars in damages.
The Bottom Line
So, what can we learn from these hilarious cases?
Well, the first thing would be the fact that, as long as you feel injured in any way, you should try your luck with a personal injury case. Even a week of lost work has the potential to award you your one year’s salary.
The other thing would be that funny things are always profitable, especially if you know a thing or two about special damages!