LadyEllen
Posts: 10931
Joined: 6/30/2006
From: Stourport-England
Status: offline
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I think what are perceived as nuisance lawsuits, annoy a lot of us, V.
But one man's nuisance is another man's bid for justice I suppose, and who is to say which suits are purely for nuisance value?
In my view, each case must be judged on its merits, and must be heard before the closest we have to competent authority - open court.
But there are some things we could do, to hinder possible nuisance suits;
1) lawyers must work on contingency only, in such cases; no lawyer would represent in a nuisance lawsuit, if he thought he wouldnt get paid, after all? This should mean (hopefully) that only cases brought on good grounds are handled. But then again, this contingency basis is prevalent now in the UK for such cases, and maybe also the US? It wouldnt take me long to build a chart to show breakeven point, assuming I as a lawyer took on 50% definite winners and 50% doubtfuls-but-worth-a-shots as cases.
2) if the case is proven, then the lawyer is paid at normal rate for his work+25% (for example), by the guilty party -no deduction from or share of, or relation to the compensation/punitive damages.
3) if the case is unproven, then the plaintiff should pay the lawyer; this would deter nuisance cases more than anything I'd have thought
4) Compensation to be compensation for proven damage/loss only, and adjusted according to ongoing expense as the result of damage/injury
5) Punitive damages paid to the successful plaintiff to be limited to 25% (for example) of compensation. The court should be free to fine for any criminal act/omission etc under the law.
6) The defendant should be free to claim nuisance damages from the unsuccessful claimant too, for damage to reputation.
The overall aim of the above being, to deter nuisance lawsuits, whilst not preventing genuine cases from being heard and brought to justice. I dont pretend those proposals are perfect by the way!
But, would you file a nuisance lawsuit, if you knew that failure would mean paying the legal costs, compensation for loss of reputation to the defendant, and the most you were likely to get was compensation for whatever losses+25% you can prove if by some chance youre successful?
E
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In a test against the leading brand, 9 out of 10 participants couldnt tell the difference. Dumbasses.
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