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

[acmavm]

And Are Sanctioned Much More Often for Frivolous Suits

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

But Corporate Americaand Political Allies Bush and Cheney Campaign to Limit Citizens’ Rights to Sue

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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 by clicking here.

“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.”


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Some of the loudest voices for restricting the legal rights of consumers and patients also are the biggest users of the court system. For example, claiming that it is inundated with class action lawsuits, the insurance industry has led the charge for federal legislation that would restrict the rights of consumers to bring such cases.

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[2Design]

1. thanks for this - the corporations and our congress are out to take

away all of the people's rights

[truthisfreedom]

2. HEY KERRY'S PEOPLE! HEY EDWARDS' PEOPLE! USE THIS!

use it in the next debate! use it in commercials! 80% of the lawsuits are brought by CORPORATIONS. not people.

[wishlist]

3. Edwards said Bushco doesn't want to limit trivial lawsuits

John Edwards today on This Week with Stephanopoulos made the point that he and Kerry want to limit frivolous lawsuits and remove cases lacking merit from the system, but that Bushco does not want to limit these cases.

He also said that he and Kerry want to only allow punitive damages in cases where deliberate negligence or malicious intent are found, not in cases such when a doctor makes an accidental mistake.