Why do civil attorneys go after the people with deeper pockets rather than the true culprit?

Question

Aren't they interested in justice. For example, somebody has too much to drink at a bar, gets in their car and kills somebody, the civil attorney representing the victim will suggest to the victim's family that in addition (or perhaps exclusivly) to going after the driver's assets, they should sue the bar as well for serving a drunk person. While one of their motivations may be that the bar should hold some responsibility, surely another motivation is that the bar has deeper pockets than the individual driver. Where is the justice in that, why don't people speak out against that, why is that allowed in our laws?

Answer 1

Well, the drunk driver in that situation gets in trouble with the criminal courts, i.e. the cops and the prosecutors. But in that situation you described, the drunk driver isn't the only one responsible ... that's why the civil attorneys come in and say, well, they didn't break a criminal law by serving this drunk driver too much alcohol, but maybe they were negligent, or weren't trained to know when to cut the person off, etc. That's where the civil suit comes in. It's just another part of the justice system, apart from the criminal courts, and it's not just because the bar has deeper pockets. They're all responsible. Just like a few days in jail and a hefty fine and suspension of driving rights will make that drunk driver think twice, a fat settlement to the family of someone killed by that driver will make the bartender think twice before giving another shot to the guy who's already stumbling around the bar ... you know?

Answer 2

The answer is in the question-- the attorneys you're asking about are civil attorneys. Criminal attorneys (at least theoretically) are interested in justice, or at least in winning their case, whichever side they happen to be on. Civil attorneys are generally out to win as much money for themselves and their client as possible, the theory being that this serves the best (financial at least) interests of their client.

Answer 3

Civil law is not a matter of justice.
Civil law is a matter of recovering (compensating) the client.

And that's not something you can do unless the defendant has the money to pay the client -- that requires deep pockets.

Criminal law is about justice. Civil law is about the money.

Answer 4

Lawyers get paid a percentage of the cash awarded to the victim.

Suing some drunk who has spent all of his money on Coors and Johnny Walker is not going to net as big a pot as suing the bar that sold the drunk all the booze.

Its not necessarily right but its not up to me. After all our Supreme Court has ruled that Imminent Domain now allows municipalities to seize land from citizens in order for private companies to develop on the seized property.

The lawyers have landed.