WhistlinBob wrote:...we have more lawyers in this town than most other metro areas.and the main reason that judges don't put a stop to this problem is they don't want to, remember they were lawyers before
they became judges!and don't ask a politician for help in this area most of them were lawyers too.remember that this this group is why most can't afford to pay for insurance medical or other wise I dispise lawyers I putthem in the same category as used car salesman and realtors.
I’m in a devil’s advocate frame of mind today; so I'll put on my Nomex suit and in the interest of fairness and dislike of sweeping generalizations, set about the challenging and quixotic task of sticking up for the least-popular group on the planet.
First,
lawyers don’t file lawsuits;
plaintiffs do. The suit doesn't begin in a vacuum; it begins with an aggrieved party looking to sue someone. Lawyers carry an ethical responsibility to not file frivolous suits, and the court system has procedures to punish those plaintiffs and lawyers who do so anyway. The great majority of "wacky" cases similar to this one are dismissed at the very first court hearing, or settled for a (relatively) minuscule amount as “nuisance value.” The media don’t find such dismissals or settlements as titillating as the splashy or amusing stories when the suit is filed, so when it later dies a quiet death at the hands of an irritated judge, that’s seldom reported.
Of course, cases that may seem frivolous (such as this peacock case) do come to trial; however, there may well be some legal merit to the plaintiff’s claims, absurd monetary damage claims notwithstanding. Also, keep in mind that while lawyers will indeed argue vigorously for large damage awards, and in most personal injury cases lawyers’ compensation is tied to the size of the award, ultimately the decision to award damages is made by jurors, not lawyers. Further, excessively large jury awards are frequently reduced by judges after the verdict—another thing the media seldom find interesting enough to report.
This is not to say that there aren’t
serious problems with the American tort system; but while it’s easy and popular to bash lawyers, not all of the problems are caused by them. Many persons make a kind of “career” out of filing lawsuits; many persons believe that for every perceived wrong, someone (else) must pay; and juries are often swayed by emotional appeals to set aside common sense. And then there are the insurance companies ...I’ll not even go there.
--And no, I’m not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.
