Submit your claim details for a free, no obligation case review
Get Started:
Public Citizen has issued a report finding American businesses file four times as many lawsuits as individuals represented by trial attorneys and are penalized by judges more often for pursuing frivolous litigation.
The survey of case filings in two states (Arkansas and Mississippi) and two local jurisdictions (Cook County, IL and Philadelphia, PA) in 2001 found businesses were 3.3 to 5.8 times more likely to file lawsuits than individuals, despite the 281 million number of American consumers that far outnumbers the seven million businesses in America by 40 times. While the Public Citizen attorney who authored the study said, “we see nothing wrong with anyone, whether an individual or a business, taking a genuine dispute to court when it can''t be resolved amicably,” he also noted, “we simply ask that corporations stop demonizing a perfectly good legal system that they regularly utilize.”
This report is especially interesting considering businesses and politicians have been campaigning to limit rights from medical malpractice damages to defective products, yet are much more likely to take any grievances to court than consumers. The Public Citizen report also found federal judges punish businesses much more often than trial attorneys representing plaintiffs in tort claims for tying up the court with frivolous claims or defenses.
Judges are able to impose sanctions that can include reprimands and denial of fees to fines as well as dismissal of claims and injunction from further litigation under Rule 11 of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedures. In a separate survey of the 100 most recent cases of federal judges imposing Rule 11 sanctions throughout the United States between 2001 and 2004, 27 instances were against businesses or their attorneys while just 16 were against plaintiffs bringing tort cases or their attorneys. Individuals representing themselves without counsel were the only ones sanctioned more often than businesses, accounting for 35 cases.
Limiting citizens'' rights to sue and allowing corporate America to continue doing so does not seem to add up. Groups like the Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse pressuring lawmakers to limit consumer rights consists of businesses for its member base, creating a perhaps inaccurate depiction of the frivolous litigation state consumers have supposedly driven the country into. Please contact us to confer with an attorney in your area.
Copyright © 2001 - 2012 Online Lawyer Source
ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT—Thank you for your visit. The content published on this website was not written by medical professionals and should not, at any point, be mistaken for medical advice. Furthermore, the information on this site is intended for educational purposes only and should never interfere with a patient/site visitor and his or her healthcare provider. In addition, viewing the content on this website, requesting additional information, or transmitting information through a contact form should never be considered the formation of an attorney-client relationship. The material published on this site is general and may not apply to your specific circumstances. Every case comes with its own set of unique circumstances; past success discussed on this site does not guarantee future performance. Information found on this website should not be used as incentive to act without seeking counsel from a professional. For more information, please read our disclaimer.