To sue or not to sue : is lawsuits been too common these days?

Answer 1

I dare say lawsuits are too common these days, its the lawyers who really benefit after it is all said and done...no-one really "wins", well maybe except for the lawyers.

Answer 2

They're definitely too common! Frivolous lawsuits are everywhere and there are too many people who have the wheels turning in their heads everytime something bad happens to them. You have to be extremely careful of what you do and what you say. I witnessed a car accident between a car and a semi where the car clearly sped onto the shoulder of the freeway and tried to cut in front of the semi. Instead, the guy hit those big old bolts on the semi's tires and did MAJOR damage to his car. The semi driver never even knew he was there. The insurance companies decided it was the man in the car's fault, but now he wants to sue the semi driver for 'negligent contribution'. It's absolutely ridiculous and there are so many cases like it these days. I don't know how we would fix it though... I'm sure putting a restriction on lawsuits would hurt some people with legitimate cases. I think we just have to deal with it.

Answer 3

Why not just try to iron things out, man to man, over a cup of coffee.
People are too bleepin' sue happy, and who wins? The LAWYERS!
I used to work for an ins co, in the claims dept, and I wish I had a dollar for every time someone threatened to get a lawyer.
I'd hear, "what would you do if I got a lawyer.?" My response, "I'd just tell the lawyer the same thing I told you!"

Answer 4

In the United States legal code, the only course of action for seeking legally recognized justice between two citizens is a civil suit. (The government reserves the soul right to pursue a criminal case, bringing a victim before a defendant.)

And over the past two hundred years, the United States system of law has restricted other forms of resolutions to civil suits other than monetary compensation, meaning if you feel you have been wronged, your only legal option is to sue for money.

There is a claim that Americans are overly litigious, and there has been a recent explosion in lawsuits, and this claim has resulted in restructured legal codes promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), solving disputes through mediation or arbitration rather than civil suits.

However, ADR assumes parties in a case are equal (a naive assumption when an individual questions a corporation) and the resolution of the case does not set president for future cases.

Additionally, the assumption that Americans are over-litigious has not stood up to empirical observation. Marc Galanter of the University of Wisconsin found that litigation in the U.S. has remained stable when compared to other industrialized nations. Similarly, the awards given by juries are not as high as reported.

For example, a study by the American Bar Association found that since 1986, there has been a decrease in the number of personal injury cases and the medium award is $30,000. The widely reported million dollar are media sensationalism.

The infamous McDonald's hot coffee case is one such example. The known story is that a woman bought a cop of coffee from a McDonald's drive through, put it between her legs, spilled coffee as she drove away and was awarded millions of dollars.

The facts regarding the case is that the car was not moving, and she suffered third degree burns requiring skin grafts. She incurred more than $20,000 in medical fees, and offered to settle with McDonald's for $22,000.

Prior to this case, between four and five hundred complaints of too-hot coffee had been lodged against McDonald's for coffee that had scalded customers. The jury found the women 20% negligent and McDonald's 80% for ignoring complaints, and serving coffee that was 190 degrees, 40 degrees hotter than the competition.

The reported award was $3,000,000 but was reduced by a judge to $640,000 and the case was concluded in a private settlement. (To put it in perspective, the settlement was set at the level of what McDondald's profits from coffee sales in two days.)

In summary, the claims that lawsuits have become to common is not grounded in empirical evidence.

Answer 5

YES! they are way to common, people are starting to sue about everything and anything. It really crowds our courtsystem, and stops Judges and the courts from doing what their offices were originally created to do.