As I hear George Bush blame trial lawyers and their frivolous lawsuits yet again for the latest problem he's trying to solve, I can't help but wonder: Why does everyone worry so much about frivolous lawsuits, but no one ever complains about frivolous defenses?
I empathize with people who are forced to defend frivolous lawsuits. It sucks when people have to pay me a small fortune -- often several thousand dollars -- to defend against some garbage that a jury wouldn't spend thirty minutes deliberating. However, the cost of frivolous lawsuits is, believe it or not, not nearly as expensive as the cost of bullshit defenses.
Why are lawsuit defense costs so high? It's not the cost of the freaky verdict. Those are rare and usually reduced or set aside by the judge.
It's not the cost of defeating the bullshit case. They are out there, but they are a small percentage of the number of cases and they are usually dispatched relatively quickly.
No, the high costs come primarily from defendants spending whatever they can to see if they can force a cheaper settlement or force a plaintiff with modest means to abandon a good case.
In poker terms, we call that "chasing a bad hand." It sometimes works. But it usually just runs up the cost for everyone.
The defendants pay more because they pay the lawyer a pile of money and then still end up paying pretty close to what the liability is worth. The plaintiffs get less, because they have to wait to recover their money, and they have to pay a lawyer a pile of money just to get what they had coming in the first place.
Lawyers don't screw people. People screw people.
Think about it. If the good hands people offered you a fair settlement right after your accident, would you give a lawyer a third or more of your money? Not a chance. If insurance companies, banks and public entities and large corporations were fair to most people, fully a third or more of all lawyers would be out of business.
Cranky Greg agrees with Lex Icon! And Cranky is a damn defense lawyer!
Posted by: Cranky Greg | July 06, 2005 at 23:32