Suing, dis-honorable?

[Clover]

Have you noticed, everyone is suing everyone? I honestly find it a disgusting thing to do, unless it's a actually deserving case, such as, you attack someone, and they sue you for the hospital bills/doctor bills, but when your suing them for thousands of dollars, cause you fell off your bike onto their yard, no. My parents won't allow suing in our family, and I doubt I will when I have a family either, unless I believe it is a good reason, but even then I am kinda iffy. My mom was whiplashed by 3 college kids, who were going fast down a road, and hit her in the back, and she didn't sue them, they all got out fine, but their insurance paid, and well, I am pretty sure they have sucky credit, but my mom was told she could sue for "pain" from her injury, when she did hurt her neck bad, and her back (they thought her back was broke, but something else happened, about 6 months after it, she was perfectly fine, but for the first few months, she had a hard time doing anything). Anyways, here are some statistics, and sources:

Stats:

2002, civil lawsuits cost the U.S. economy a reeling $233 billion. With the rise of civil lawsuits over the last half a century, each American citizen is now estimated to pay a "lawsuit tax" of anywhere between $700 and $800 a year (27 September 2004 US Fed News).

Source: Lawsuit Abuse Statistics - Inside Prison

Be Careful, if you somehow hurt my feelings in your post, I might sue

btw: I am not condemning everyone who sues, only those who do it for false reasons, or just to get rich quick.

[ChristineES]

I believe people are suing too much. There is a new novel by Jodi Picoult about lawsuits, about a woman who decides to sue her OB because the OB didn't tell her earlier about a defect her child had so she could abort her- a wrongful birth suit. That would be a lawsuit I would find despicable because the child will find out about it and think she isn't wanted. And also because I have 2 special needs children myself.
Do a search of Stella Awards (Stella being the woman who sued McDonald's for hot coffee and won). They would be entertaining if they weren't real lawsuits.

[Clover]

Well, I do not understand how families have allowed this. My family would never allow it, I mean yes, we are allowed to do it, but when you have cousins/uncles/aunts who are telling you your dishonoring the family, you will probably give in. I am just so tired of being afraid to do anything cause of suing. My dad is terrified that one of the bikers will wreck on our lawn (we live in the middle of nowhere on a farm, and they have a bar a while from here, and they sometimes come down their drunk as a skunk) and sue us, cause he wrecked on our property. And, to add to that, I had to put up orange tags on every branch of the barbed wire we have (ya, you try walkin all that and havin a good mood) just so if some retareded hillbilly wrecks into it, we can tell them straight up, we had reflector wraps on it, so that might save us from their stupidity, but even then...

What the world need now, is love, sweet love...

Sorry, listening to that song atm lol.

[whereismynotecard]

People are indeed very sue-happy as of late. It's scary, because you could be sued for anything. If someone drives down our driveway and wrecks, could they sue us? Probably. People are jerks and want as much money from other people as they can get, no matter what stupid scheme they have to think up in order to get it.

[jamaesi]

Originally Posted by ChristineES

I believe people are suing too much. There is a new novel by Jodi Picoult about lawsuits, about a woman who decides to sue her OB because the OB didn't tell her earlier about a defect her child had so she could abort her- a wrongful birth suit. That would be a lawsuit I would find despicable because the child will find out about it and think she isn't wanted. And also because I have 2 special needs children myself.
Do a search of Stella Awards (Stella being the woman who sued McDonald's for hot coffee and won). They would be entertaining if they weren't real lawsuits.

That hot coffee caused third-degree burns and an eight day stay at a hospital and skin grafts and two years of treatment.

The temperature that McDonald's served their coffee at was ridiculously high compared to other places and would cause third degree burns in a matter of seconds. She also tried to settle for much lower than what she finally won and McDonald's refused. I don't find that a trivial lawsuit.

[whereismynotecard]

I don't care how hot my coffee is. I never pour it into my lap.

[ChristineES]

Originally Posted by jamaesi

That hot coffee caused third-degree burns and an eight day stay at a hospital and skin grafts and two years of treatment.

The temperature that McDonald's served their coffee at was ridiculously high compared to other places and would cause third degree burns in a matter of seconds. She also tried to settle for much lower than what she finally won and McDonald's refused. I don't find that a trivial lawsuit.

I wasn't really talking about her, just about the awards- like a woman suing a furniture store and won because she tripped over a child- and it was her own child.

[Dunemeister]

One good way to put an end to this litigious nonsense can be summed up in two words "loser pays." That is, in any lawsuit brought, the loser of the litigation must pay all the lawsuit-related costs of the winner.

[Clover]

Originally Posted by Dunemeister

One good way to put an end to this litigious nonsense can be summed up in two words "loser pays." That is, in any lawsuit brought, the loser of the litigation must pay all the lawsuit-related costs of the winner.

I do not know if your calling this topic a litiguious nonsense or the mass of lawsuits, but loser pays seems like a simple and very low way to put it. I mean, a rich man can afford a better lawyer, that might have went to a school where they taught them much harder, and more. For instance, I get a lawyer from Redneckville Community College, while he gets his from Harvard, I mean, do I really have a chance at winning?

[Dunemeister]

Originally Posted by Clover

I do not know if your calling this topic a litiguious nonsense or the mass of lawsuits, but loser pays seems like a simple and very low way to put it. I mean, a rich man can afford a better lawyer, that might have went to a school where they taught them much harder, and more. For instance, I get a lawyer from Redneckville Community College, while he gets his from Harvard, I mean, do I really have a chance at winning?

The "litigious nonsense" is the mass of lawsuits. There would be a lot fewer frivolous lawsuits if the person bringing the suit knew they'd probably have to pay the legal fees of the defendant in the case of a loss.

I realize that this might make people who have been well and truly wronged a bit gunshy about going to court, but that's really the point. You should only go to court if you're reasonably sure you can satisfy the burden of proof over against your opponent.

The financial disparity you mention obtains under the current system, and changing the system to what I proposed doesn't make it worse.