So many public institutions and businesses in the US base much of their internal policies and procedures on limiting their liability in how they operate day to day so they don’t get sued.
When you see a no-brainer, obvious disclaimer on a product packaging or advertisement and think to yourself *why does that need to be explicitly stated?* and the answer seems to always be “so some idiot doesn’t sue them.”
Even myself as an individual need to carry hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal liability insurance on my homeowners policy in case somebody sues me.
When people who feel that they’ve been wronged by an employer, or their kid’s school, or by another individual the advice they get online is always “get a lawyer” but how can most people afford to do that?
I know that attorneys can take money from a settlement after it’s been won, but that takes months or even years in court and with the average fee of well over $150.00 per hour for even a consultation with an attorney, how do normal people afford to sue anyone?
I am well aware that individuals seeking damages from big corporations for blatant negligence is one of the quickest ways for health and safety regulations to be reformed, like that poor woman who was burned because McDonald’s was keeping their coffee at near boiling temperatures, I’m not questioning if these lawsuits are legitimate, I’m questioning how they’re even possible?
In: Economics
The US is litigious because the civil court system is intended as an all-purpose system in place to resolve any issues. Other countries don’t rely on courts as much for civil issues because they have specialist systems for resolving those issues and the courts just handle stuff that falls outside the field of the specialists. For example, if you are injured and it impacts your ability to earn, in the USA that is often a matter for the courts – you would find an entity that could be seen as partially culpable for the accident ( eg perhaps you argue that the reason you slipped was that the City didn’t sufficiently de-ice the sidewalk as they were supposed to). While in some other countries there is a state agency to handle injury compensation similar to how there might be universal healthcare. They will give you income, and seek changes from any negligent contributor if they think it’s necessary.
Litigation is comparatively common in the USA because when all you have is a hammer, every problem is a nail
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