The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities. The TKPOTD for ten years ago today featured an example of how the Dunning-Kruger effect doomed Brett Kimberlin’s attempt to us LOLsuits to silence his perceived enemies.

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Last Wednesday, Brett Kimberlin handed me a copy of  the original complaint he filed in his Kimberlin v. The Universe, et al. RICO lawsuit. According to Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, that was not legal service of the complaint or the “summons” which came with it.

(c) Service.
…
(2) By Whom. Any person who is at least 18 years old and not a party may serve a summons and complaint.

Also, the “summons” that accompanied the complaint was defective on its face.

The first sheet is the notice of the suit. It does not have the case number on it. Neither does the summons. Also, Kimberlin had given me zero days out of a minimum of thirty to reply to the waiver for service, and it’s dated the day before he handed it to me.

The summons itself is not signed by the Clerk of the Court, so it’s not valid.

What this boils down to is that I haven’t been served with the suit because the wrong person handed me unfinished paperwork.

Durum hoc est sed ita lex scripta est.

Fail.

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Stacy McCain has referred to Brett Kimberlin as The World’s Worst Pro Se Litigant™. That’s probably true, although Bill Schmalfeldt …

Well, they’re both members of Team Kimberlin.