Originally Posted by Keeponchuckin
This is now final, and the lawsuit itself is settled and over with. There are only a handful of insurance companies that cover recreational fishing lakes. We have spoken to all of them.
This is now final, and the lawsuit itself is settled and over with. There are only a handful of insurance companies that cover recreational fishing lakes. We have spoken to all of them.
End of an era, end of fishing Irvine lake for many of us. The thought from some re: not that many private boaters, tubes and kayaks obviously have no idea what they are talking about. Many that are repeat, every weekend anglers used their own vessels.
Very sad
Sad and there seems to be double standard here. Why are lakes like Perris and Silverwood that allow all forms of lake lice and have incidents of serious injury and even death not facing similar outcomes yet a small fishing only lake is now off limits to private boating due to illegal activity that resulted in death by their own illegal and negligent actions. Beyond sad and actually an outrage to me...
So can this happen to other lakes? Specifically, I'm thinking of Pyramid, with those two guys that drowned last year. Yes, Pyramid is a public lake, but isn't the concession run by a private company?
Last edited by shinbob; 07-20-2015 at 10:58 AM.
This is the worst news ever... SO LAME...
I don't know but it sure seems like it would set precedent for other suits. The guys at Pyramid were fishing during legal hours and not trespassing when the lake was closed. What just happened to the Irvine lake concessionaires is just flat out wrong...
It appears that the men were fishing during legal hours and my guess is that Irvine did not police the clientele and boats that are launched.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/b...lake-doan.html
That's how I read the situation also. Conjecture, but the lawsuit may have been for failure to enforce their own boating rules. In which case, why can't other lakes, private or public, also suffer the same fate? Did the guys at Pyramid have the right number of life jackets and throwables on board? I've never been checked.
Aren't there any laywers here with access to Westlaw etc... that can give us more info on this case?
Another annoyance for me -- what if this happened on the ocean, who would they have sued? Nobody of course. They were "fortunate" (in quotes to not trivialize the death of these two) that it happened on an insured lake. But we all pay the price.
Indeed, the other articles did not make it clear if they had sneaked in or not. Still, where does personal responsibility come in? Why must everyone else have to babysit and pay for adult stupid?
After 17 years as an expert witness and litigation consultant nothing surprises me anymore. Until we have litigation reform and loser pays nothing will change. The sad and sorry fact is most lawsuits filed are frivolous to some degree or the other. We have legal system where trial lawyers sue everyone under joint and several liability and contributory negligence. Name a half a dozen or more defendants that have insurance and the insurance carriers will settle in a heartbeat. It is legalized extortion. A dead, disfigured or disabled child is the biggest award winners in the legal lotto game and you can't have enough insurance.
It costs on average for an insurance company to go to trial $40,000 and winning for the insurance company is not a sure bet. Better to settle for less than the $40,000 to make it go away. I can’t tell you the number of cases I turned down because they were frivolous or weak and someone else took the case. I have asked other experts why they to such a case and the reply was a paycheck is a paycheck win or lose I still get paid. My moral compass never let me do that and I am sure my wallet suffered for it; however in 17 years I never lost a case or failed to get my clients a settlement. Oh and I slept well at night.
A few legal facts:
96% of all lawsuits filed in the World are in the USA.
Every business in California will be sued at least once during its business life.
25% of all Californians with income over $50,000 will be sued in their lifetime.
Comforting isn’t it. Shakespeare had it right when he said kill all the lawyers.
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