I hear it all the time in movies and in the news, but never fully understand what it means.
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The phrase means that the cost of engaging in a legal battle about the issue will be so huge that you will be financially ruined (bankrupt), whereas they can absorb the cost without major issues.
There are several reasons why you want a lawyer if you are involved in legal issues. Firstly they can often judge the situation more clearly because they are slightly detached from the situation. Secondly they (hopefully) have experience with the legal process in general and this area in specific. They know to file an anti-SLAPP motion, or ask for strict scrutiny, or what *pro-se* means, or the legal meaning of actual malice. They are hopefully also charismatic and able to present your best case to the judge and jury while exposing flaws in your opponent’s arguments.
Trying to win anything without a lawyer is much more difficult, but at the same time lawyers are expensive. In the US they can be anything from $100 per hour to $1000 per hour. So if the issue takes a long time to resolve, involves lots of court time, lots of research, maybe even a team of lawyers with different specialities to handle different parts of the case, then the legal fees can be millions of dollars. Even a simple case might cost tens of thousands, and in the US, you generally have to pay for your own legal fees, even if you win.
So even if you are guaranteed to win (and given how complex the law can be, this is never guaranteed), you might spend a huge amount of money on the case, and never get than money back.
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