What percentage of lawsuits filed are frivolous, and what can be done to stop them?

Answer 1

Hard to say what percentage are frivolous. I have never seen any statistics. I suspect part of the issue would be how does one define a frivolous lawsuit? What may seem frivolous to one may be serious to another.

I think the best way to cut down on frivolous lawsuits is to have an automatic counter-claim filed for legal costs. If the plaintiff fails to prove the case, the defendant should be able to recover the cost of defending themselves. I think people would think twice about suing if they knew it could cost them a lot of money in return.

Answer 2

Probably less than 0.1%.

Truly frivolous lawsuits are very, very rare - whatever impression the media might like to give.

There are thousands of lawsuits filed every week across the country. In the vast majority there's a very real dispute. Even the occasional 'frivolous lawsuit' story in the press often turns out to be not so frivolous at all, but just misreported.

The problems with most of the suggested "cures" for frivolous lawsuits is that they're taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

For example, it's been suggested that the US implement a "loser pays" system for legal fees, like England has. But look at what's happened with lawsuits there.

Let's say you think your cell-phone company overcharged you by $100. You ask for your money back, and they refuse. Under our current system, you sue them in small claims court, and if you lose, you're out the $20 or $30 filing fee. Under a "loser pays" system, though, the cellphone company defends themself with a team of half-a-dozen $500 an hour lawyers. NOW if you lose, instead of being out $30, you're out thousands of dollars in lawyers fees. Are you going to take that risk over $100? Of course not - so the cellphone company can slap on bogus fees all the time, knowing they'll hardly ever get sued - and if they do their team of high powered lawyers can probably win it.

Richard

Answer 3

Lawyers that file frivolous lawsuits are subject to sanctions. The other party can file a motion (In federal court a Rule 11) and they give the other side 21 days to dismiss. If the judge thinks it is frivolous they can hand out sanctions sua sponte.

Sanctions can vary from censure, which is a slap on the wrist and on their permanent record with the Bar and they can also be subject to fines.

The clients are also subject to sanctions if they are at fault.

Answer 4

Frivolity is in the eye of the beholder, and spending any amount of time on this website (with hundreds of jerks saying "so-and-so looked at me cross-eyed, who do I sue and how much do I ask for?) will show you that.

However, there are legal remedies in place already for people who are the victim of frivolous suits, and for the defendants who are forced to hire attorneys and pay court costs to defend stupid lawsuits. In addition to the attorneys who file the suits and their clients being subject to fines (including paying the attorneys' fees and court costs for the other party in some cases), if an attorney does it a lot, he or she can be fined and in some extreme cases, lose their right to practice law.

Answer 5

Very hard to say which percentage are frivolous, but I dare to say that many are. I believe most likely over half are frivolous.