You hear it all the time, “we live in a litigious society”. Companies, especially small businesses, and individuals often live their lives in constant fear of being sued. We are told that the average American is footing the bill for frivolous lawsuits, through higher insurance premiums, higher prices, and even higher taxes. Cases that sound ridiculous, where plaintiffs are awarded millions of dollars for failing to use common sense, receive unending media attention. So, when politicians start talking about tort reform, it’s easy to jump on the bandwagon.
In reality the number of lawsuits and the amount of money granted in awards are both going down, not up. When it comes to the courts being overwhelmed with cases, it is criminal cases which are on the rise, not civil cases. Even though the rate of violent crime has dropped, the number of criminal trials is increasing and judges are being reassigned, taking them away from civil cases, to handle the growing caseload. This, in turn, slows down the process in civil lawsuits.
For more information about tort reform, click here to visit the website of The Florida Firm of personal injury attorneys Colling, Gilbert, Wright and Carter of Orlando, Florida.
To read more about civil lawsuits, click here to visit the website of Salt Lake City personal injury lawyers Siegfried and Jensen.
