Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Attorneys in a "Sue Happy" America

Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Attorneys in a “Sue Happy” America

Lawsuits such as personal injury, medical malpractice and wrongful death, are becoming a very lucrative business for Americans and their attorneys. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “In 2001, plaintiffs in the 75 largest counties won just over half of the 12,000 general civil cases at trial, with 442, or 4% awarded $1 million or more.” 1

Here’s another statistic for you: “An estimated $4 billion in damages were awarded to plaintiff winners in civil trials.” 1

Now, there are people with definite reason to file these types of lawsuits. For instance, in 2004, a teen died in Tucson, Arizona after contracting the Norwalk virus from drinking water contaminated by feces. His parents filed a wrongful death suit that was settled out of court for $3 million. 2 That may sound like a lot of money, but will it really replace the life of a child?

Other cases, however, are not so clear-cut; the area of law that covers personal injury and wrongful death has become murky at best, due, in part, to the actions of attorneys. The phrase “ambulance chasers” comes to mind. Personal injury and wrongful death attorneys now have commercials running 24/7, all with a list of situations, all hinting at the promise of large amounts of money, all saying, “We don’t get money unless you do.”

Most people have seen at least one movie or read one book where someone gets hurt and then, at the hospital, is bombarded by attorneys telling them how much money they can get for the injured. Sadly, this isn’t a fictional situation. You may not be able to find an attorney for divorce, child custody, or various other cases where you need one, but if you get hurt and end up in the hospital, all you have to do is lift your head and look around.

Did you slip at work, fall and hit your head? Hire us; the company may have workmen’s comp, but we can get you more money.

Did your spouse take a medicine that caused their death? Even though they read the fine print, knew it was a possibility and agreed to take the medicine anyway, it’s the company’s fault that they died. Hire us; we’ll make them pay.

Did your doctor perform a procedure that you agreed to, after you said you understood the possible complications, and there were complications? Hire us; we’ll make sure that doctor won’t be able to do that to anyone else.

There’s a heavy dose of sarcasm, but there’s also a prevalent thought running through those questions. “Nothing that happens to you is your fault. There is no such thing as an accident. If you get hurt or hurt yourself, we’ll find a party that can be blamed and sue the pants off them.”

If you’re skeptical or feel that this is unfair, I submit to you this question: Why do McDonald’s coffee lids and cups have “Caution, contents are hot” written on them? Because someone was burned by hot coffee, hired a personal injury and wrongful death attorney, and sued the company for getting hurt.

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 4:14 pm and is filed under Politics and Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Attorneys in a “Sue Happy” America

Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Attorneys in a “Sue Happy” America

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