A local personal injury lawyer takes the stakes for a lawsuit he filed on behalf of a woman who sued the owner of a horse she rode while intoxicated.

Rich Holtzapfel recently filed the case in Kanawha County Circuit Court, alleging injuries sustained two years ago when his client was horsing around. The woman alleges that her host threw a party in which both alcohol and horseback rides were available to guests. After consuming alcohol, the guest apparently agreed to the partygiver’s offer of a horseback ride. The woman fell while attempting to get on the horse, sustaining alleged injuries.

Shouldn’t common sense dictate the outcome of this case? By alleging negligence on the part of the host, the party guest apparently excuses herself from any responsibility whatsoever. Mounting a horse can be quite the challenge. It is likely even more difficult once you’ve knocked back a couple of cocktails. Shouldn’t the woman be held equally accountable for stupidly deciding to ride a horse whil intoxicated?

Sadly, this is just another example of personal injury lawyers chipping away at the idea of personal responsibility. We wonder if Holtzapfel will subpoena Mr. Ed to testify as his “mane” witness.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 8:07 am and is filed under Lawsuit Abuse. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.