Why People Hate Lawyers

I once had to lead a bus full of 6 year olds from a tough neighborhood through the nicest department store in Kansas City. The fear I felt that some kids wouldn't be able to resist touching things or running down the wide aisles, thus causing bodily harm to customers and/or thousands of dollars worth of property damage, now exists in me every day as I try to manage 3 rambunctious kids in public.

After reading this article, it may have turned to terror.

To summarize, two 4 year olds ran their bikes into an 87 year old woman, causing  her to fall and break her hip. She died of unrelated causes a few months later. The woman's estate is suing the mothers.

And the kids.

Yes, according to New York Law, children over 4 are capable of being negligent because they should have known that racing bicycles on the sidewalk could have resulted in them knocking someone over. And though their supervising mothers might have guessed as much, I really don't think it's fair to sue kids for doing something their mothers said was okay. Especially when those kids are 4.

As for the mothers, well, it is legal for kids under 12 to ride their bikes on sidewalks in the New York City. Obviously condoning the race was a bad idea, but we don't usually prosecute people for bad parenting ideas. If we did, there'd be no families on reality TV.

Also - and this is probably why I would have been kicked out of law school if I hadn't changed my major at the last minute - why the fuck does the estate get to sue anybody? If the woman didn't sue for help with recovery from the injury when she was alive, the why do her heirs get to sue now? Are they emotionally traumatized by the fact that she broke her hip before she died?

Look, I'll be the first to say that some parents let their kids act like jerks. But is suing the kids the answer? Find me a politician who'll take on this kind of crap and not only will I vote for him/her, I'll even contribute.