Frivolous Lawsuits
Posted: Sunday, April 2nd 2006
Frivolous lawsuits? Ever hear someone complain that there is too much money being spent on frivolous lawsuits? Are frivolous lawsuits driving up the cost of insurance? What about health care? The answer is a resounding “no.” How can I be so sure?
First, if someone filed a completely frivolous lawsuit against you, would you pay them money to settle or go to court and win the case? Of course you would go to court. No one pays to settle lawsuits without merit. Second, our system has built in checks against such lawsuits. These include rules that allow the court to sanction parties and attorneys who do file truly frivolous lawsuits. Also, a court may grant summary judgment, a quick judgment, to anyone faced with a frivolous suit.
Personal injury and medical malpractice lawyers don’t file frivolous lawsuits because, besides being fined by the court, they would be throwing their own money away.
Of all the areas where the term frivolous lawsuit is used, it appears most when discussing personal injury or medical malpractice claims. That’s just the way the insurance industry, the chamber of commerce and their cronies want it. However, these areas of the law are the least likely to have frivolous lawsuits. Why? Personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee. They don’t file cases unless there is a reasonable chance of success on the merits to justify the time and cost of prosecuting the case. It addition to the normal costs of a case, in medical malpractice cases a plaintiff’s attorney must obtain a report from a licensed physician stating the physician reviewed the relevant records and a meritorious cause of action exists. This report alone can cost several thousand dollars. Personal injury and medical malpractice lawyers don’t file frivolous lawsuits because, besides being fined by the court, they would be throwing their own money away.
So, who does file frivolous lawsuits, if anyone? While I won’t accuse anyone of doing so, there are some interesting cases that deserve scrutiny. First, rather than pay for an insured’s house fire, mega-insurer Allstate sued Kellogs alleging that Pop-Tarts are flammable and caused the house fire. Allstate attempted to have Kellogs, the maker of Pop-Tarts pay Allstate back for what Allstate paid the homeowner. You can read about this here. Second, Caterpillar, Inc. sued Disney to block release of George of the Jungle 2, because the film might injure the reputation of bulldozers and other equipment since this equipment was used in scenes