September 27, 2005

No great surprise: the family of Red Sox fan Victoria Snelgrove, killed in a freak incident outside Fenway Park when a policeman shot her in the eye with a pepper pellet (see Overlawyered, Nov. 4, 2004), is suing the pellet-gun manufacturer. Less predictably, there's a municipal champerty angle:

In May, the city of Boston settled a lawsuit by Snelgrove's family for $5 million. As part of the settlement, the city cooperated in the suit against the gun maker and will receive half of any damage award, up to $2 million.

More on champerty here and here.