Kenneth Mollins – Overlawyered

Wal-Mart trampling suit

Walter Olson — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:26:38 +0000

Father and son Fritz Mesadieu and Jonathan Mesadieu say they were in the crowd during the now-notorious Black Friday crowd-crush episode at a Long Island Wal-Mart. They say they were left with neck and back pain for which they want $2 million. (Wisecracks about a stampede to court are in extremely poor taste and should be avoided.) Their attorney, who gets a prominent mention in the CNN coverage, is named as Kenneth Mollins, apparently the very same attorney Kenneth Mollins whose skill in transforming seemingly minor or transient injuries into litigation Ted saluted in June (h/t commenter Don Parks). (“Customers injured in crush suing Wal-Mart”, CNN, Dec. 2). More: Eric Turkewitz has some thoughts on the underlying liability issues, the Mesadieu/Mollins claim aside.

Tags: Kenneth Mollins, Long Island, Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart trampling suit is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Kenneth Mollins, attorney for peanut-suer Tehmina Haque

Ted Frank — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:55:42 +0000

Walter’s post about Tehmina Haque‘s lawsuit against American Airlines over her “fear” of an unrealized peanut allergy is not the first time her attorney, Kenneth Mollins, has attempted such a tactic.

Mollins appeared on CNN in July 2007 after filing a suit on behalf of a woman, Francine Dorf, who sued Con Ed over the steam pipe eruption in Manhattan that month. Dorf wasn’t injured: she just complained that the loud sound reminded her of September 11, entitling her to damages, in part because she could not “focus enough to read the romance novels that she checked out from the library.” (See also Improved Clinch blog.) My Google-fu was not acute enough to find the docket in New York state court; does anyone know what the status of that lawsuit is?

What I did find was another lawsuit brought by Kenneth Mollins, plaintiff. Mollins leased an Infiniti, but was dissatisfied with the quality of the Bluetooth system and the GPS. After five months of haggling and attempts to fix the supposed problems, Mollins still wasn’t satisfied, the dealer took the car back and refunded Mollins’s money, including the deposit and all the monthly payments made to date. In other words, Mollins got five months’ use of an Infiniti for free. Not good enough for Mollins: he sued, seeking additional damages for the damage the alleged inability to use a cell phone did to his business. The court denied his attempt to turn it into a class action and dismissed; the lawyers were Herzfeld & Rubin.

We obviously should start keeping track of Mr. Mollins.

Tags: do you know who I am?, emotional distress, harmless lawsuits, Kenneth Mollins

Kenneth Mollins, attorney for peanut-suer Tehmina Haque is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“They served peanuts anyway…”

Walter Olson — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:34:58 +0000

Tehmina Haque’s four-year-old son apparently did not suffer any allergic reaction, but mom got really stressed about the possibility he would so she’s suing American Airlines anyway. The airline says it never promises peanut-free flights, if only because it cannot keep other passengers from bringing their own peanut snacks on board. (Zachary R. Dowdy, “LI woman sues over in-flight peanuts”, Newsday, Jun. 2).

Tags: airlines, child protection, harmless lawsuits, Kenneth Mollins

“They served peanuts anyway…” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system