Customer Reviews

The True Stella Awards

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It's a good thing this book arrived on a Saturday or I would never have made it to school!! Once I started reading the cases I couldn't stop. It's hard to believe that people would really go to court and try to get somebody else to pay for their own stupidity..I mean..if my Dad was stupid enough to use a metal pole to pull something of the electric line, I wouldn't want the whole world to know about it. Or if my Mom got locked in a storage shed and didn't bother to bang on the door or try to get out, (I know, the book says that lady had emotional problems, but still !!).

I hope everyone will pay attention to the last part of the book where the writer gives ideas about how to get people to stop filing these kind of lawsuits.

I've been a reader of the "This is True" and "The True Stella Awards" newsletters for years so I was eager to read this book by Randy Cassingham. Like the young reader said in an earlier review, it was hard to put the book down. The cases are interesting and amusing. The author gets his message across loud and clear: first with many, many cases (each getting an even bigger "eye roll" than the last) and then by bringing us back to Earth with suggestions for how we can fix the system.

This book is worth every penny you'll spend on it. Nearly every page will leave you bug-eyed with incredulity, and many of them will also cause you to irritate anyone nearby as you constantly say, "You're not gonna believe this one!" The appeal of the book derives from the combination of the wackiness of the real-world legal cases Cassingham has selected for examination and his lethal style. He's one of those few writers who can channel Ambrose Bierce, if you see what I mean.

Now, there is something that worried me a bit. I agree with Cassingham's thesis that the US legal system is being crushed under the burden of frivolous lawsuits brought by greedy lawyers representing defendants who won't take responsibility for their own actions. However, after reading page after page of examples, there's a temptation to throw the baby out with the bath water. That is, the system seems so dysfunctional that maybe it would be best to abandon it.

The reality is that in the US, suing someone is what we do instead of fighting in the streets. The system is certainly irritating and expensive, but what's the alternative?

Despite that reservation, I really liked the book. It's rare to get so much enjoyment for so little money.

I did plenty of both while reading this wonderful book of the bizarre. I laugh because Cassingham has a wonderful way with words. I cry when I think of our tax dollars at work in the courts and the time people waste to deal with the miscreants supplying the fodder for these all-too-true stories. But I smile again when I think of all the good Cassingham is doing in pointing out the flaws in our system and the compounding of errors when insurers settle, encouraging more of the same misbehaviors from others who decide to board the gravy train.

Those who know my work will recognize the root cause of much of the idiocy and "don't take responsibility" mindset a True Stella Award requires. Cassingham's mix of humorous style and serious message strikes just the right balance to address this growing problem. Perhaps, the insurers and courts will some day get the message.

This is a great book - amazing that such frivolous lawsuits actually make it to court! And often win the cases!!!! It sometimes actually makes the reader angry, but is often so hilarious you can't help but laugh! And shake your head in wonder. Well worth buying.

Randy Cassingham is a great writer with a good sense of ethics. He actually researches what he writes (rare these days). This book is a great combination of amusing stories and concrete ideas about what we can do to reform our legal.
Buy two copies of this book - one for you and one for your local lawmaker!

This is a collection of real lawsuits that waste court time, legal talent and, maybe more importantly waste money, money that eventually comes from consumers and taxpayers. Mr. Cassingham has referenced all of the suits to prove that no matter how outrageous the suit may seem, all in the book are true.

I could not put the book down. I read it in one day which is rare for me. I think every US citizen should read this book. All but the most unethical personal injury lawyers will enjoy it.

I've been a fan of Randy Cassingham since near the beginning of his online newspaper column called "This is True." In September of 2002, after getting really annoyed by the fictional "Stella Awards" that were constantly making their way around the Internet (Stella is named for Stella Liebeck, the woman who spilled hot McDonald's coffee in her lap and made millions), Randy decided to create the "True Stella Awards," a regular online newsletter that would highlight *real* cases of frivolous lawsuits and a justice system gone mad. Now, three years later, he's written a book by the same name (it was published in 2005). The True Stella Awards is not just a book full of cases from his newsletter, however. It also contains facts demonstrating the extreme cost of these lawsuits (he documents the fact that twenty states are in "crisis" due to specialized medical practitioners reducing their services to avoid "high-risk cases that tend to generate lawsuits."). Finally, it has some concrete solutions to what everyday people like you and me can do to help alleviate this situation. It's also a darn good book too.

The meat of The True Stella Awards is, of course, the cases. These are taken from the newsletter, so subscribers to it (like I have been, from the beginning) have read all of them before. That is not a bad thing, however, as it's nice to revisit them. These cases range from "Agents of Change" (lawsuits to suit a political or other type of agenda) to medical cases to "It's not my fault" types of cases. Also, it's amazing how many people try to use the court system to adjudicate petty disputes that could probably be solved over a beer. There are people being stupid and thinking they should have somebody else pay for that, and many others. But probably the most important (and the best) chapter is on SLAAP lawsuits. SLAAP means "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation," and these lawsuits are usually a corporation's attempt to intimidate somebody (or some organization) into doing what they want by filing a lawsuit against them. Most defendants in these cases can hardly afford to defend themselves in a lawsuit, despite the fact that they may be in the right. They also have a chilling effect on others who may want to do the same thing.

The best example of this (and probably the best write-up in the whole book) is the Sharper Image vs Consumers Union (publisher of Consumer Reports magazine) case. Consumer Reports tested air purifiers and the Ionic Breeze Quadra came in dead last. Sharper Image didn't think the testing was fair, Consumer Reports ran another test which had the same result, and Sharper Image sued them for the bad review (that should send shivers down any reviewer's spine). This was a blatant attempt at intimidation, and they were rightfully slapped (no pun intended) down for it. This is probably one of the most detailed write-ups in the book, and Cassingham covers it well, giving all of the details he could about the issue.

I really appreciated how much effort went into all of the write-ups. Cassingham is very thorough. Not only that, but he documents his sources. He lists the URLs of the newspaper or other online source where he obtained his information. When possible, he gives the aftermath of what happened, though many cases were still pending as the book went to press. Occasionally, he provides fact boxes with something relevant to the case, such as the one I mentioned earlier. One minor fault with the book is that two of the first facts he provides don't really fit in with the rest of them. One is about how many people worldwide practice voodoo, and the other one is that Oreos are the number-one selling cookie in the country. Since the rest of the facts are about legal issues, either the outlandish cost or something like that, these facts standout as being superfluous.

Near the end of the book, he provides a chapter of responses from certain lawyers either complaining about his newsletter or trying to defend what they do. There's even a response from the ATLA (American Trial Lawyers Association) criticizing what he's doing. Cassingham shoots them all down with relative ease, further making his point that the system has gotten out of control. He takes great pains to note that not all lawyers are like this and that some lawyers are among his greatest fans. Not only that, but it's not just the lawyers who are responsible for the situation. Some judges, people who file these suits, and certain aspects of the system itself are also at fault. Thus, reforming just one area will not help. Cassingham makes this point very clearly.

That's a hallmark of the entire book, however. The writing is very clear and concise, the case write-ups are interesting (and the links provided mean you can go check them out yourself to make sure he didn't create a bias one way or the other) and his suggestions are quite logical. He can also be quite witty too, sometimes in a sarcastic way. The cases he provides are funny by themselves but horrifying when you take them all together. Maybe that's why this book is necessary. Taken as a monthly (or whenever Cassingham has time to put it together) email newsletter, the cases almost seem isolated. Put together in a book like this, they become even more frightening. People roll their eyes when they hear about cases like this, but they really should be doing more. The True Stella Awards (both this book and the newsletter) illustrates why that is. It's also a lot of fun to boot.

David Roy

Mr. Cassingham has worked hard on this book, and it shows. While the content is about complex (and, sadly, often extremely bizarre and/or just plain stupid) legal issues, he writes it in layman's terms -- he's like an interpreter of the stupid. (Sorry, Mr. Cassingham, no offense.) I bought three copies -- two for the attorneys in my life, and one just for me.

This book is so fun. I get his weekly e-mails and just love having all this info in one place. When I get down, I pick this up and read the ones that I have marked "favorites" so that I laugh. Some people just aren't very smart. Randy is though and gets lots of kudos for publishing something that highlights the REAL problems in this country and the need for reform.

Thanks Randy! You do a great job!!!!