Are There Too Many 'Personal Injury' Suits?

[William Joyce]

Everyone who gets into a car accident wants a million bucks, whether they got hurt or not. Is that a good system?

 

[William Joyce]

Has anyone here filed one, or been sued in one?

 

[My Winter Storm]

Everyone who gets into a car accident wants a million bucks, whether they got hurt or not. Is that a good system?

There need to be laws in place to prevent these personal injury lawsuits. Granted, some people are deserving of compensation if they are injured, but we need to sort the genuine folk from those out to make a quick buck.

 

[editec]

Everyone who gets into a car accident wants a million bucks, whether they got hurt or not.

Nonsense

Is that a good system?

Well, it is a good system in that when you are injured by somebody else, you have the right to demand compensation for your injuries in a court of law, I think.

Would you be happier with some other system?

What would your ideal system look like, William?

 

[dilloduck]

Everyone who gets into a car accident wants a million bucks, whether they got hurt or not. Is that a good system?

It's a great system for personal injury attorneys.

 

[Angel Heart]

Has anyone here filed one, or been sued in one?

I was rear ended in our first new car (3 weeks after getting it, didn't even have the plates yet). I had major nerve damage from it. Had to hire help for around the house. Saw a Dr for several months. The ins company offered $700 in addition to my medical bills and car repair (but not the loss in value due to the crash). I decided then to pull a lawyer in. My out of pocket expenses (baby sitter for my Dr's visits, heating pad, hired housework help) where more than that. It took a while longer but I settled for $4000 in the end. My lawyer got 30%.

 

[William Joyce]

What would your ideal system look like, William?

Not sure, but you wouldn't be able to get infinite sums for "pain and suffering." That would be capped by statute -- say $100K. Also, you might have court-appointed doctors take a look at the validity of the claimed injury. Right now, the person with the lawsuit can hire a doctor (who says what he's paid to say), and the person sued can hire a doctor (who also says what he's paid to say). It seems cheaper to have one doctor figure it out instead of two.

A lawsuit is a major, major expense. I don't think they should be filed willy-nilly, but that's how it goes many times. People don't really need the money most of the time for their injury, they just want to hit the lottery.

 

[jessiebiel]

that depends on what is the extent of the accident..

 

[sparky]

Has anyone here filed one, or been sued in one?

I was rear ended in our first new car (3 weeks after getting it, didn't even have the plates yet). I had major nerve damage from it. Had to hire help for around the house. Saw a Dr for several months. The ins company offered $700 in addition to my medical bills and car repair (but not the loss in value due to the crash). I decided then to pull a lawyer in. My out of pocket expenses (baby sitter for my Dr's visits, heating pad, hired housework help) where more than that. It took a while longer but I settled for $4000 in the end. My lawyer got 30%.

a good example of why people need to sue in the 1st place Angel....

 

[editec]

Are There Too Many 'Personal Injury' Suits?

No.

There are too many personal injuries.

 

[turtledude]

Everyone who gets into a car accident wants a million bucks, whether they got hurt or not. Is that a good system?

It's a great system for personal injury attorneys.

which is why PI attorneys who lose tort suits should have to reimburse the winning defendant his reasonable attorney's fees

in the federal Title VII system the plaintiff does not give his attorney a share of the verdict-rather the attorney submits his bills to the court and the court makes the losing defendant pay the fees. Sadly the government does not do that when they win (and they do 90% of the time) and corporations who win as a defendant should be able to make the plaintiff pay their fees as well


that would stop some of the suits I have seen-such as a woman who sued the Postal Service when she was told not to use her cell phone while driving and only on lunch break or an emergency. she said her son was working at a "goodwill" (he was mentally disabled) and she wanted to check up on him even though she didn't call during her lunchbreak she claimed this was "handicap discrimination" It was thrown out of court but the government attorney I know still racked up about 100 hours in depositions and writing motions. The plaintiff should have reimbursed the government for that and her attorney has filed 9 similar suits and has one nuisance value settlement and 8 cases thrown out on motion. If he had been nailed with say 270000 in fees for his first bogus case the other 8 never would have happened.

 

[William Joyce]

Are There Too Many 'Personal Injury' Suits?

No.

There are too many personal injuries.

Uh huh... so if I stub my toe at Wal-Mart, how much money should I get?

 

[Oddball]

What would your ideal system look like, William?

Not sure, but you wouldn't be able to get infinite sums for "pain and suffering." That would be capped by statute -- say $100K. Also, you might have court-appointed doctors take a look at the validity of the claimed injury. Right now, the person with the lawsuit can hire a doctor (who says what he's paid to say), and the person sued can hire a doctor (who also says what he's paid to say). It seems cheaper to have one doctor figure it out instead of two.

A lawsuit is a major, major expense. I don't think they should be filed willy-nilly, but that's how it goes many times. People don't really need the money most of the time for their injury, they just want to hit the lottery.

Loser pays would shake a scads of frivolous suits out of the courts.

 

[William Joyce]

What would your ideal system look like, William?

Not sure, but you wouldn't be able to get infinite sums for "pain and suffering." That would be capped by statute -- say $100K. Also, you might have court-appointed doctors take a look at the validity of the claimed injury. Right now, the person with the lawsuit can hire a doctor (who says what he's paid to say), and the person sued can hire a doctor (who also says what he's paid to say). It seems cheaper to have one doctor figure it out instead of two.

A lawsuit is a major, major expense. I don't think they should be filed willy-nilly, but that's how it goes many times. People don't really need the money most of the time for their injury, they just want to hit the lottery.

Loser pays would shake a scads of frivolous suits out of the courts.

Yes, Walter Olson is a big supporter of this idea. Right now, you can run up a million-dollar defense bill for your target, and even if you lose, you can just walk away.

 

[editec]

Everyone who gets into a car accident wants a million bucks, whether they got hurt or not. Is that a good system?

How many personal injury lawsuits were filed last year?

Do you know?

If you do not, how can we know if there were too many of them?