i think the litigation explosion exists

ElFenix

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it took 14 years for the 2d edition of the reporter of cases in the southwestern part of the US, S.W.2d to reach 155 volumes. that started in dec 1927 and 155 ends in november of 1941. for the 3d edition to reach 155 volume, it went from may 1999 to january of 2005. under 6 years.

now, part of that is word processors have encouraged courts to write more, certainly. but that is a whole lot of cases in a very short time.
 

Zebo

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That's cuz in the ole days it was double barrel 12 ga behind the ears when you're neighbor stole your water. We do things in courts now.
 

ElFenix

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Originally posted by: Zebo
That's cuz in the ole days it was double barrel 12 ga behind the ears when you're neighbor stole your water. We do things in courts now.

1927 wasn't that bad.

you can go look at the NE reporter, i'm sure it shows similar increases in the rate of volumes published.
 

cKGunslinger

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Originally posted by: Zebo
That's cuz in the ole days it was double barrel 12 ga behind the ears when you're neighbor stole your water. We do things in courts now.

Add to that the fact that we have a lot more laws now as we did then, a lot more people, a lot more types of people who we now consider to be protected by laws, and a lot more sense of entitlement, and you can rationalize a bit of that 'explosion' rather easily.
 

Zebo

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All I'm trying to say fenix is in the old days people were rougher and tougher and handled disputes face to face. Not anymore.

EVERYTHING today seems to be handled by lawyers.

Granted some good has come out of that. Back in the day, you strike instead of going to employment board which they did'nt have, you'd get bet up by owners thugs, or he'd take away your house since he owns the town..stuff like that happend all the time.

Fighting was more frequent i think for conflict resolution. Boxing and pit bull fighting, a gentleman sport at the time, was hella popular in the first half of the century which I think goes to show the psyche.

Plus lawyers found out they can get rich by sueing people so they activly recruit clients.

Also waht CK says has some truth.. lots more laws and ots more people to step on each others toes makes for more lawsuits.
 

irwincur

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It's becase there are a lot more lawyers and stupid juries willing ro hand out cash to everyone that asks. After all, it isn't their money, it usually is the money of some mean, evil company ripping off the little guy anyways.

I wonder how many jobs have been lost to these types of lawsuits. Something people probably never think about.
 

Zebo

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Originally posted by: irwincur
It's becase there are a lot more lawyers and stupid juries willing ro hand out cash to everyone that asks. After all, it isn't their money, it usually is the money of some mean, evil company ripping off the little guy anyways.

I wonder how many jobs have been lost to these types of lawsuits. Something people probably never think about.

You'd be surprised over 70% of cases are "big evil corps" sueing smaller companies or an individual. Go down to federal courts and look at the dockets.
 

ElFenix

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Originally posted by: Zebo
All I'm trying to say fenix is in the old days people were rougher and tougher and handled disputes face to face. Not anymore.

EVERYTHING today seems to be handled by lawyers.

Granted some good has come out of that. Back in the day, you strike instead of going to employment board which they did'nt have, you'd get bet up by owners thugs, or he'd take away your house since he owns the town..stuff like that happend all the time.

Fighting was more frequent i think for conflict resolution. Boxing and pit bull fighting, a gentleman sport at the time, was hella popular in the first half of the century which I think goes to show the psyche.

Plus lawyers found out they can get rich by sueing people so they activly recruit clients.

Also waht CK says has some truth.. lots more laws and ots more people to step on each others toes makes for more lawsuits.

so you agree that there is more litigation, then? if so, then you have no argument with me
 

1EZduzit

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Feb 4, 2002
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Originally posted by: Zebo
Originally posted by: irwincur
It's becase there are a lot more lawyers and stupid juries willing ro hand out cash to everyone that asks. After all, it isn't their money, it usually is the money of some mean, evil company ripping off the little guy anyways.

I wonder how many jobs have been lost to these types of lawsuits. Something people probably never think about.

You'd be surprised over 70% of cases are "big evil corps" sueing smaller companies or an individual. Go down to federal courts and look at the dockets.

Which I think brings up another point. Big business has an army of lawyers on the payroll. Now more then ever, they have the advantage and they're more then willing to flex their legal muscle.

You know what good corporate lawyers make? They have to justify those salaries somehow.
 

Zebo

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LOL ya who would'nt agree? It's pretty obvious so everyone in this thread is think about cause.
 

Thump553

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The series the original poster is referring to publishes just reported appellate decisions. The number of lawyers, jury trials, etc. is not really relevant. The OP hit the nail right on the head when he suggested word processors strongly contributed to this increase. Without a doubt, written opinions are a lot longer and more frequent now than they were in the days of typewriters and carbon paper.
 

cKGunslinger

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Nov 29, 1999
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Originally posted by: ElFenix
Originally posted by: Zebo
All I'm trying to say fenix is in the old days people were rougher and tougher and handled disputes face to face. Not anymore.

EVERYTHING today seems to be handled by lawyers.

Granted some good has come out of that. Back in the day, you strike instead of going to employment board which they did'nt have, you'd get bet up by owners thugs, or he'd take away your house since he owns the town..stuff like that happend all the time.

Fighting was more frequent i think for conflict resolution. Boxing and pit bull fighting, a gentleman sport at the time, was hella popular in the first half of the century which I think goes to show the psyche.

Plus lawyers found out they can get rich by sueing people so they activly recruit clients.

Also waht CK says has some truth.. lots more laws and ots more people to step on each others toes makes for more lawsuits.

so you agree that there is more litigation, then? if so, then you have no argument with me

:confused: So basically, you put '1+1' into a calculator and decided to start a thread on the answer being 2?

Seriously, what is the point of this thread if not to discuss why this obvious truth might be the case?
 

Starbuck1975

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Which I think brings up another point. Big business has an army of lawyers on the payroll. Now more then ever, they have the advantage and they're more then willing to flex their legal muscle.

Given the lawsuit happy society we now live in, and the sometimes ridiculous payouts provided in many civil courts, is it no wonder that corporations would keep an army of lawyers on hand to protect themselves from frivolous nonsense?

It is the small businesses that suffer the most as they are subject to the same litigation happy society dynamics as larger corporations, but lack the resources to hire the legal network to defend themselves.
 

RightIsWrong

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Apr 29, 2005
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Originally posted by: Starbuck1975
Which I think brings up another point. Big business has an army of lawyers on the payroll. Now more then ever, they have the advantage and they're more then willing to flex their legal muscle.

Given the lawsuit happy society we now live in, and the sometimes ridiculous payouts provided in many civil courts, is it no wonder that corporations would keep an army of lawyers on hand to protect themselves from frivolous nonsense?

It is the small businesses that suffer the most as they are subject to the same litigation happy society dynamics as larger corporations, but lack the resources to hire the legal network to defend themselves.

The vast majority of cases against corporations NEVER sees a courtroom. They settle as quickly and cheaply as they can. The "explosion" is due to the population increase, which has driven the amount of crime higher and corporations that are suing each other. It has nothing to do with you implication that ordinary people are abusing the system sooooo much that it is driving the case load counts to astronomical heights. And I am not claiming that there aren't abuses of the system....just the validity of the assumed reasoning for the increase.
 

ElFenix

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Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

:confused: So basically, you put '1+1' into a calculator and decided to start a thread on the answer being 2?

Seriously, what is the point of this thread if not to discuss why this obvious truth might be the case?

some people deny it.
 

cKGunslinger

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Originally posted by: ElFenix
Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

:confused: So basically, you put '1+1' into a calculator and decided to start a thread on the answer being 2?

Seriously, what is the point of this thread if not to discuss why this obvious truth might be the case?

some people deny it.
Deny what? I'm still confused.

They deny that there are more court cases now than they used to be?
 

ElFenix

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Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Originally posted by: ElFenix
Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

:confused: So basically, you put '1+1' into a calculator and decided to start a thread on the answer being 2?

Seriously, what is the point of this thread if not to discuss why this obvious truth might be the case?

some people deny it.
Deny what? I'm still confused.

They deny that there are more court cases now than they used to be?
yes, exactly. i saw a harvard professor give a speech about how the litigation explosion is a myth. a harvard professor!

 

Starbuck1975

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The vast majority of cases against corporations NEVER sees a courtroom. They settle as quickly and cheaply as they can.
That is usually because from a PR perspective, it is sometimes better for a company to quietly settle a case, no matter how frivolous, as opposed to facing the PR perception of the big powerful corporation fighting the poor little people.

The "explosion" is due to the population increase, which has driven the amount of crime higher and corporations that are suing each other. It has nothing to do with you implication that ordinary people are abusing the system sooooo much that it is driving the case load counts to astronomical heights.
An increase in population size would of course account for more lawsuits, but you cannot deny that lawsuits have become increasingly frivolous in the past ten years...take little miss finger in my Wendy's chili...I am quite surprised that Wendy's chose to fight the case, as oppose to settle...despite their innocence in this incident, they still suffered a severe PR backlash and lost sales because of one woman's attempt to abuse the system...this is the climate that most businesses face today.

Many people on this board complain about the salaries that some CEOs get...they pale in comparison to the millions being made by some of these "class action" lawsuit specialists, who are the ambulance chasing lawyers of contemporary times.