Thursday, June 23, 2005
Loser Pays
I think the time is right in this country to adopt a "loser pays" civil court system. There is currently no disincentive for anyone not to sue someone or some company over any matter. File a lawsuit charging that Wendy's served you a bowl of chili with a person's finger in it, even though it is a blatant lie intended to get the filer some easy money, there is no legal reason not to go ahead and file it and see what happens.
If you can get an attorney to represent you, and with commissions as high as 50% of the spoils there will always be someone willing, many people think, "why not try?". No matter how stupid the lawsuit or how erroneous the charge, the person or company being sued has to mount a defense or else settle out of court. To settle out of court is often the preferred solution for the filer because they are really just interested in quick, or slow, easy money. Often times that is the preferred solution for the defender in order to keep their name out of the negative spotlight and it is often much cheaper for them to simply settle rather than expend the money and resources to mount a successful defense.
And if the defense is actually successful, what do they get out of that? Nothing other than keeping their good name or reputation intact. And what does the loser get out of the situation? Well, nothing monetarily maybe, but also no consequences from the fact that they libeled or slandered someone for a chance to win some easy money, like a lottery. They can just try again. I say the loser should pay for their erroneous accusation.
Yes, it's a just sytem that punishes the offender. If that offender happens to be someone making false charges for a quick buck, that offender should be punished. Now, I'm not talking about jail time, necessarily, although some circumstance may aptly warrant that very punishment. For most false litigation cases, making the loser of the lawsuit pay ALL of the court costs of the other party would seem to be a fitting punishment.
I'm not talking about limiting anyone's ability to file a lawsuit at all. All I ask is that the loser of ANY lawsuit be required to pay all the costs of that litigation. This would force people to consider their charges very seriously before ever filing such a suit. If I have to pay the court costs of someone who I charged did me wrong, I will make sure I am in the right BEFORE I file such a suit.
It benefits society not a whit to allow frivolous law suits to go forward. There are far more important matters for our courts to be deciding. It would be a simple, straightforward plan to implement. File any law suit you desire but know that whichever party is the eventual loser of the case will be the party that pays all of the costs. If you cannot pay the cost of losing, do not file in the first place. Or if you decide to file and lose and cannot pay the loser's costs, plan on spending some quality time with Bubba the Back-Door man. I feel quite confident that frivolous law suits will disappear virtually overnight.
OH
If you can get an attorney to represent you, and with commissions as high as 50% of the spoils there will always be someone willing, many people think, "why not try?". No matter how stupid the lawsuit or how erroneous the charge, the person or company being sued has to mount a defense or else settle out of court. To settle out of court is often the preferred solution for the filer because they are really just interested in quick, or slow, easy money. Often times that is the preferred solution for the defender in order to keep their name out of the negative spotlight and it is often much cheaper for them to simply settle rather than expend the money and resources to mount a successful defense.
And if the defense is actually successful, what do they get out of that? Nothing other than keeping their good name or reputation intact. And what does the loser get out of the situation? Well, nothing monetarily maybe, but also no consequences from the fact that they libeled or slandered someone for a chance to win some easy money, like a lottery. They can just try again. I say the loser should pay for their erroneous accusation.
Yes, it's a just sytem that punishes the offender. If that offender happens to be someone making false charges for a quick buck, that offender should be punished. Now, I'm not talking about jail time, necessarily, although some circumstance may aptly warrant that very punishment. For most false litigation cases, making the loser of the lawsuit pay ALL of the court costs of the other party would seem to be a fitting punishment.
I'm not talking about limiting anyone's ability to file a lawsuit at all. All I ask is that the loser of ANY lawsuit be required to pay all the costs of that litigation. This would force people to consider their charges very seriously before ever filing such a suit. If I have to pay the court costs of someone who I charged did me wrong, I will make sure I am in the right BEFORE I file such a suit.
It benefits society not a whit to allow frivolous law suits to go forward. There are far more important matters for our courts to be deciding. It would be a simple, straightforward plan to implement. File any law suit you desire but know that whichever party is the eventual loser of the case will be the party that pays all of the costs. If you cannot pay the cost of losing, do not file in the first place. Or if you decide to file and lose and cannot pay the loser's costs, plan on spending some quality time with Bubba the Back-Door man. I feel quite confident that frivolous law suits will disappear virtually overnight.
OH
# posted by OH @ 6:53 AM 
