Ironically, after being named the “World’s Most Litigious Man,” Jonathan Lee Riches, who has a reputation for being litigious, filed a lawsuit against the Guinness World Records (GWR).
Riches wanted the court to prevent the publication of what he believed to be false information because he was unhappy with the title and nicknames that the record-keeping organization had proposed.
Jonathan first came to light when he sued his mother, claiming she had not raised him properly. Riches has an odd record of filing over 5,000 lawsuits against various people and institutions, including his mother, friends, judges, and even famous people like Bill Belichick, Martha Stewart, Britney Spears, and the Eiffel Tower. Remarkably, he prevailed in the case and received a $20,000 settlement.
Jonathan persisted in his legal rampage, earning compensation from several cases totaling about $8 million. Riches filed a lawsuit against the GWR as soon as he found out that the publication intended to name him the “Most Lawsuit-Happy Man” in its 2010 edition. Calling them his “legal masterpieces,” he contended that the GWR had no right to publish his legal pursuits.
Jonathan challenged the veracity of the case count, asserting that, in contrast to the 2,600 cases listed, he had actually filed over 5,000 lawsuits. He claimed during the hearing that the GWR had asked for his consent several times, but he had turned it down because of the alleged errors. He finally prevailed in the case and received $50,000 in compensation.
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But Jonathan’s legal troubles didn’t stop there. During the litigation against GWR, he was incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, for wire fraud. After being freed in 2012, he carried on with his legal endeavors and ran into legal issues once more in 2018 after being charged by an Arizona federal grand jury.
In an attempt to sue Gabby Giffords under the false identity of Jared Lee Loughner, the accused were charged with making false statements and committing other frauds.
“Nothing is Written in Stone: A Jonathan Lee Riches Companion” is an autobiography and compilation of Riches’ lawsuits which was released in 2018. In the annals of legal history, his story is still considered an eccentric one.
