# Can you sue yourself? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024 "2007-07-16T19:32:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024/41 "2013-03-08T17:35:51Z")
I’ve been a lawyer since 1992 and a magistrate since 2001. I’ve never heard of anyone suing himself and, other than some of the relatively obscure examples already given, don’t know how you would pull it off. I would dismiss any such case as frivolous. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024/42 "2013-03-08T18:15:41Z")
Not quite the same thing but I recall reading about a military officer who was assigned dual duties (a common situation) as both quartermaster of a division and the commander of one of the brigades in the division. Acting as the brigade commander, he sent a written request to the quartermaster for some supplies. Then, acting as the quartermaster, he send a written response back to the brigade commander denying the request. He then appealed the decision in writing and then upheld his original denial. At that point, following procedure, he sent the entire issue up to the division commander for his decision. The division commander supposedly said it was the first time he’d ever been asked to resolve an argument somebody was having with himself. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024/43 "2013-03-08T18:30:30Z")
If he knew he was going to deny the request, why did he file it in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024/44 "2013-03-08T20:39:24Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Does not make sense. If he is the same person, he still has the assets and they are still liable to be handed over for any other lawsuit. More likely he is suing his company, thus transferring money from the liable company to hmself the person? > > Or he was hoping to establish a precedent for damages at a low number? A variant is the “sweetheart” class action. In a class proceeding, the result binds the class (unless individuals take the deliberate step of ‘opting out’). This means that, in some cases, where (say) a manufacturer of a defective product _knows_ they are in for liability, they may quietly arrange to be sued in a class action, and then cut a deal which limits their liability to a managable amount (that is, the minimum likely to be acceptable to a judge, who has to approve class settlements). Chances are hardly anyone would “opt out” and so this minimizes the litigation risk. This is sorta like “suing yourself”. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024/45 "2013-03-08T21:04:27Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > If he knew he was going to deny the request, why did he file it in the first place? Presumably he wanted the paper trail showing the official request, official denial, official appeal, and official re-denial to establish that proper procedure had been adhered to thus far, so that the division commander could then legally address the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024/46 "2013-03-08T21:07:15Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > If he knew he was going to deny the request, why did he file it in the first place? So he could appeal he decision that he knew he was going to make. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024/47 "2013-03-08T21:30:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Not quite the same thing but I recall reading about a military officer who was assigned dual duties (a common situation) as both quartermaster of a division and the commander of one of the brigades in the division… This apocryphal story has long been told about the notoriously-ornery Braxton Bragg. See the second paragraph here: [Braxton Bragg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braxton_Bragg#Early_Army_service) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024/48 "2013-03-09T01:26:58Z")
> [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](#): > > I was once involved in a case in which a man was a passenger in a vehicle being driven by his wife, who caused a collision that killed her and seriously injured him. In order to collect the insurance proceeds, he sued his wife’s estate; he was also her sole heir and the estate’s representative. Maybe I’m just thick - but I don’t understand this. Whether he sued or not, the insurance would pay out (or not) regardless, based solely on the situation and whether the diver was covered for self-inclicted accidental death. His status would be irrelevant. Since he was already the sole heir and representative, he already gets the money. Am I being stupid here, or does this confuse anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024/49 "2013-03-09T02:36:06Z")
The insurer might have refused to pay on contributory negligence grounds. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024/50 "2013-03-09T02:53:49Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Maybe I’m just thick - but I don’t understand this. Whether he sued or not, the insurance would pay out (or not) regardless, based solely on the situation and whether the diver was covered for self-inclicted accidental death. His status would be irrelevant. Since he was already the sole heir and representative, he already gets the money. > > Am I being stupid here, or does this confuse anyone else? It wasn’t her **life** insurance, it was her **auto** insurance. The insurer didn’t contest liability, but didn’t think his injuries justified paying out the entire policy limit, so he sued. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024/51 "2013-03-09T13:47:18Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Maybe I’m just thick - but I don’t understand this. Whether he sued or not, the insurance would pay out (or not) regardless, based solely on the situation and whether the diver was covered for self-inclicted accidental death. His status would be irrelevant. Since he was already the sole heir and representative, he already gets the money. > > Am I being stupid here, or does this confuse anyone else? As I understood the summary, it wasn’t that he sued to recover the insurance for his wife’s death; it was that he sued the wife’s estate for his own injuries, alleging that his wife negligently harmed him, and therefore his wife’s insurance policy should cover him. ---
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024/52 "2013-03-09T23:40:07Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > Well, I could see someone with a multiple personality disorder suing their alter ego. I don’t think that is very likely …and neither do I … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-sue-yourself/412024.md?page=2)