House MD 'House outsmarts a patient trying to sue him' Sweet Revenge

A patient sues all the other Doctors but Dr.House outsmarts him and sues him.
House MD Paternity S01E02

P.S This person is not the piano person.

[assassintwinat]

"You have caused me considerable mental distress."
"I certainly hope so."
what an inspiration

[ProJanitor]

In real life, the elevator door would awkwardly remain open for a lot longer.

[TheOmegaRiddler]

While I am no expert in the US legal system. I feel I know enough now to explain what just happened. This guy is a Vexatious Litigant. He makes a habit of finding reasons to sue doctors. Because of that, he also has to find new doctors to treat him, because the ones he sued refuse to deal with him. In this scene, he is serving the lawsuit personally, which means he is cheap and most likely, no self-respecting attorney is going to put their name to his lawsuit. So he is acting as his own attorney, meaning he isn't paying a process server... because he's cheap. And by bringing up a settlement at this point, he's trying to intimidate doctors into a quick settlement, which will most likely be just under how much a lawyer would charge to defend a lawsuit.

Edit: The Plaintiff is not allowed to personally serve the defendant and must hire a process server.

His mistake here was going to a big hospital that has a free clinic. House isn't going to be intimidated even if he wasn't an ass, because the hospital's attorneys will be representing him. Cuddy has stated she has a annual budget for lawsuits and is under budget in this show. So the fact this guy decided to try this at a major hospital instead of a GP or small clinic tells me that most if not all of them refuse to treat him. He probably has to travel further to pull this scam which means he's been banned from his closest hospitals and must need immediate emergency care to get in the door. He probably didn't expect House to challenge him by the fact he tried to take it back.

I guarantee that the hospital filed for immediate dismissal plus attorney's fees for filing such a frivolous lawsuit, and House was scolded for not letting the guy take it back and saving them the hassle of a lawsuit.


Edit: It doesn't matter if the guy took back the serving documents for his lawsuit. The lawsuit is already filed and he is legally required to serve notice for the lawsuit to proceed. Even if he took back the documents, that actually doesn't stop anything. Yes the hospital could ignore it but they could also enter the lawsuit voluntarily. Look up Todd Rodgers vs Guinness Book of World Records. (Apparently there are two different entities for Guinness world records and he sued the wrong one). So basically the second this guy served House and then tried to take it back, his only option to avoid paying their legal fees would be for him to drop his own case before they respond.

[techtogether]

Ah ah these are mine now, ill see you in court 😂😂😂

[DTux]

Just the fact he tries to take it back makes me realize how stupid people can get

[salsa]

I love the devious sarcastic childlike humour the character house has. Awesome actor and this is one of the best character/actor combos ever. Hugh Laurie is a genius at being witty and petty at the same time

[antoinelachapelle]

"House outsmarts a patient"

That's just the entire show lmao

[zidneya]

House is the kind of Doctor that refuses to wear a coat while he is at work, but will consider to wear one on a courtroom to trigger a litigious person.

[grahamyates]

Hugh Laurie, a fine actor with the complete range from low comedy to intense drama and utterly believable in everything.
(And a convincing American accent by all accounts.)

[OhSPY.]

Dr. House’s intelligence, wit, humor, and sarcasm could easily be classified as nuclear weapons-grade dangerous, love it.

[ronylbravo]

He served a paper for lawsuit and at the same time asked for a settlement. 😂 What a joke. Any self-respecting lawyer would never do that let alone try to take back what I assume is only a demand letter.

[turboking]

Dude: You've caused me serious mental distress.
House: Oh I certainly hope so.

I'm totally using that!!

[mbedj]

I can't stop imagining House being represented by Saul Goodman

[GettingHome]

They can also be served via registered mail by the postman that gets a signature of receipt from the recipient.

[ultramaximusreviews]

I like how he owns the suit and goes to court LOL

[bcreilly]

Sad part is these type of people exist. They "sue" people but will take a settlement....even though it's all bullshit

[amaryllis]

Had someone like this come in once with his mom (his partner in crime I guess). Didnt threaten to sue us, but was challenging and criticizing everything we did as a business and at then end left a scathing review trashing the authenticity of our business. Also asked me how small my feet were which was really creepy

[isaiahalmonte]

0:54 Why does he look smug he ain’t gonna win the case

[kadindarklord]

I'm a bit confused about the American legal system. Don't Lawyers have to be the ones that serve those papers?

[dramaticstyle]

I love House, so much.. his witty style, knowing the devious styles of humanity and turning it around them, sure he's confused and frightened by the path of saints but in a world of sinners, he makes sense...