The Lawsuit Epidemic

We are part of it. This country has become the lawsuit capital of the world. That is why there is a book published called Sue the Bastards! Let’s examine some numbers that are a few years old but give us a basis for talking about this epidemic.

From 1959-2009 tort related lawsuits (personal injury) has risen 800%. In 2009, a stunning $248.1 billion were paid out in the tort system which amounts to $808 per person. The United States has the highest number of lawyers per capita in the world. There are over 1.2 million attorneys which translates into one for every 254 American.

In 2011 there was a new lawsuit filed every 2 seconds in the USA.  That is one lawsuit for every 12 adults. Over 15 million were filed in the court system. The system has become so costly that it is easier to file a frivolous litigation in an attempt to settle out of court due to the costs of going to trial.

I don’t have an answer but I can tell you from personal experience in teaching for 34 years that the last 10 of them or so had an increased concern from administration due to it becoming a legalistic society. It was easy (no grey area) to enact zero tolerance policies that do the work to track down those guilty and those not guilty.

That is why they put into effect 24/7/365 Athletic Codes. The admins didn’t want any grey area and it made it easier to just declare all guilty and move on. That is a subject I will re-visit in the coming weeks as I am strongly opposed to the schools governing the athletes at all times.

The views in this blog are those of Tom Knuppel