U.S. Businesses File Four Times More Lawsuits Than Private Citizens

[G_j]

U.S. Businesses File Four Times More Lawsuits Than Private Citizens
And Are Sanctioned Much More Often for Frivolous Suits

But Corporate America and Political Allies Bush and Cheney Campaign to
Limit Citizens' Rights to Sue

http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=1799.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – American businesses file four times as many lawsuits as do individuals represented by trial attorneys, and they are penalized by judges much more often for pursuing frivolous litigation, according to a report issued today by Public Citizen.

The survey of case filings in two states (Arkansas and Mississippi) and two local jurisdictions (Cook County, Ill., and Philadelphia, Pa.) in 2001 found that businesses were 3.3 to 5.8 times more likely to file lawsuits than were individuals. This comes as businesses and politicians are campaigning to limit citizens’ rights to sue over everything from medical malpractice damages to defective products. By way of comparison, the number of American consumers (281 million) outnumbers the number of businesses in America (7 million) by 40 times.

The report also found that businesses and their attorneys were 69 percent more likely than individual tort plaintiffs and their attorneys to be sanctioned by federal judges for filing frivolous claims or defenses. The report, Frequent Filers: Corporate Hypocrisy in Accessing the Courts, is available...

“Corporations think America is too litigious only when they are on the receiving end of a lawsuit,” said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. “But when they feel aggrieved, businesses are far more likely to take their beef to court than are consumers.”

..more..

[barb162]

1. Business to business lawsuits have long been the huge

drain on the court system. I have known this for many years and that is why I have always felt business is so hypocritcal in wanting to get "frivilous" consumer lawsuits curtailed.

[oscar111]

2. businesses are clogging the courts, not us

the better stat is per-individual, viewing businesses as "individuals".

Thus, businesses are forty times the quoted four, and so are in reality per-individual,

160 times more likely to sue and clog the courts.

ASIDE: Clark Howard website has a disgusting note... dr's are both asking patients for donations, and dunning them with addons to normal bills, for extra money....
to help drs pay for malpractice insurance.

If drs were not so careless to begin with, malpractice would not be judged against them. It is their own fault they have to pay that insurance. Dunning us for donations is ... words escape me.
File under "the incredible greed of the rich."

See WORST DOCTORS IN AMERICA book from the Nader-begun group dealing with healthcare {sorry i forget the exact name.. Sidney Wolf has been the director for many years}.
In it he details the sorry state of no oversight or removal of incompetent drs by state boards, which are the captive of an old boys network of drs, not consumers.

It is so shocking to see survey after survey showing many doctors do not know of recent advances that are all over the tv news.
Related, is that they now know of antibiotics, yet many do not use them to cure ulcers.

They apparently coast after college, not caring a whit because they are just in it for the money.

[oscar111]

3. Sidney Wolfe,not wolf, i think. And proof of greedheads overruning US

Wolfe i think it is, for the Nader originated healthcare advocacy group director.

Proof that greedheads have overrun usa healthcare, is that if compassionate types were the only ones in doctoring,

then all current uninsured who are now going to state {underfunded, shabby} clinics,

would be instead, taken on by the private drs as "charity, no charge patients".

We see now 44 million folks turned away by our greedhead drs, when they could easily be taken on as charity patients. That would drop dr incomes to a reasonable level, but that is not what is happening. Guess why.

THe only way to drive the greedheads out is to nationalize health, and cap dr incomes at the average income... fifty K.

Removing the lure, ultra hi incomes for seven minute office visits, is the only way you will ever get rid of greedheads.

Any other way? I never hear any other way proposed by repliers here. There is no other way, far as i can see.

As to "hard work" by drs, i see no heavy lifting. I see some do long hours of easy work, to hike income. That's all. When one does not really care about patients, it is EASY work to deal with dying patients.

As to long education, every college professor has also put in long years, and gets around 70 000.

The US healthcare picture fits greedheadism all too well.

[ladybugg33]

21. So why doesn't Edwards say this stuff when he gets a chance?

We are missing too many opportunities to nail these lying thugs.

[MattBaggins]

4. They forgot some crucial data

How much money did big business rake in compared to individuals.

[G_j]

5. kick

[Rose Siding]

6. This is a very helpful report

If Edwards gets the chance, I hope he throws around some of these numbers tonight.

[lostnfound]

8. Yes it is, & we should call attention to it ourselves, via LTTE etc nt

[Out the Parasites]

7. So Business's are fucking over businesses...

now it's time for business to stop fucking businesses. Legislation needs to be passed to proctect businesses from fucking themselves, Otherwise business will be fucked.

[bleedingheart]

9. A fellow I know who owned a company that was taken over was

suing for less than stellar reasons. He lost because although he got as rich as a king on the deal he didn't like some of the things the takeover company did...well too bad...you took their money.

[Steelangel]

10. uh, that is not good news...

More reasons why we should vote for Kerry to get Bush out of White House.

I really, really hope that will happen.. otherwise, we, people will be suffer more if Bush wins the election 2004. *sigh* I have been put up with this fear for months now, I have enough with that.

[BeFree]

12. Welcome to DU, Steelangel

What faces the people is this: They want to take away our rights to address our greivances in court. Since they rarely win in court, they seek to change the rules and keep us away from justice altogether.

[SeattleDem]

11. anyone have an "in" with kerry/edwards campaign?

I'm sure their staffers look for info but are also busy. Since this came out today, can we make sure someone there sees it ASAP? It could be a great point in tonite's debate. We know Cheney is going to make an "issue" out of Edwards' former profession.

[G_j]

15. I sent it to them via email

although they must have an awful lot of mail to read.

[G_j]

13. how sad is that that they have people conned into

siding against the 'little guy' which is actually themselves?

[lil-petunia]

14. 6 times more in Illinois.

litigation crisis my ass.

[EastofEdon]

16. KICK

:kick::kick:

[BamaLefty]

17. AMEN!!!

This is the issue most important to me. My whole family are lawyers. Plain and simple. Repubs want to lie and cheat the little man while they are the ones that point the fingers at the lawyers? WTF! This is a travesty. Kill lawyers huh? How about kill all the crooks in corporations lying to the average Joe! John Edwards is going to make Dicky look like scum... which he is. Cheney doesn't have a leg to stand on tonight.

BTW, thanks for posting this buddy, I will show this one off. :)

[StupidFOX]

18. Yeah, right...

It's the liberal lawyers with their business-hurting lawsuits abusing the justice system. :crazy:
I mean, why should people be able to sue for lots of money just because something the company made kills a relative? It's bad for business, and that's bad for America. (sarcasm off)

[G_j]

19. kick

[G_j]

20. "The Myth of America's 'Lawsuit Crisis' " How the media helps

The Myth of America's 'Lawsuit Crisis'

Stephanie Mencimer, Washington Monthly

How the media helps the insurance industry and the GOP with wildly
exaggerated tales of Americans' overarching sense of legal entitlement.

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/20082/

Last December, Newsweek featured a cover package by Stuart Taylor and Evan Thomas that blared: "Lawsuit Hell: Doctors. Teachers. Coaches. Ministers. They all share a common fear: being sued on the job." Paired with a weeklong tie-in on NBC News and online chats on MSNBC.com, the article claimed that because "Americans will sue each other at the slightest provocation," the country is suffering from an "onslaught of litigation" that costs Americans $200 billion a year. The story was full of tales claiming to illustrate Americans' overarching sense of legal entitlement and desire to "win a jackpot from a system that allows sympathetic juries to award plaintiffs not just real damages…but millions more for the impossible-to-measure 'pain and suffering' and highly arbitrary 'punitive damages.'"

Among others, the story featured a softball tournament organizer, a minister, and a doctor who all claimed to have modified their behavior because they were terrified of lawsuits. Ryan Warner, an insurance salesman in Page, Ariz., told Newsweek that he had recently cancelled an annual charity softball tournament because an injured player had sued the city of Page for $100,000. Warner said that he worried he might be added as a defendant.

The story as published, though, lacks a few critical details. Newsweek didn't mention, for instance, that the 1997 federal Volunteer Protection Act ensures that people like Warner are immunized from these types of lawsuits. The article also excluded the injured man, Richard Sawyer, a locomotive engineer who suffered a dislocated ankle and a spiral fracture to the fibula – and missed months of work as a result – after he slid into a base that was supposed to break away on impact but didn't because the city hadn't followed the manufacturer's instructions for maintaining these fixtures properly, according to Kevin Garrison, Sawyer's lawyer.

The event organizers had insurance – required by the city – to protect against exactly this kind of situation, but Warner cancelled the tournament anyway because he says the lawsuit was "a hassle." Canceling the tournament proved a smart PR move, as it brought out an immense amount of pressure on Sawyer to drop his suit, says Garrison. The case was settled this January for an undisclosed amount and Warner was never named. In fact, the tournament has been revived and scheduled for early September.

..more..

[G_j]

22. Studies Show Claims About Ins.Rates and Access to Docs Have No Foundation

http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=1805

Oct. 6, 2004

Cheney’s Claims in V.P. Debate and New Bush-Cheney Medical Malpractice Ad Continue Campaign of Deception and Distortion

Government Data and Studies Show Bush-Cheney Claims About Insurance Rates and Access to Doctors Have No Foundation

..more..