A race on the courts

I recently heard a story on the radio about a woman and her young son who were thrown off a bus because the boy had a very smelly diaper. They were on their way to see the pediatrician because the boy had a stomach virus. The bus company defended the driver’s actions, stating that he acted in the interests of the safety and comfort of the other passengers, who had complained about the smell.

Although I can sympathize with both sides of this story, and with the mom’s comments that being thrown off the bus made her feel like shit (put appropriately), I don’t sympathize with the mom’s next statement that she was going to sue. Of course you are going to sue. Every day lawyers listen to people who want to sue some person, company, school, government entity, etc., etc. The rallying cry of these people is that something is unfair and that someone or some institution should be sued. Some of these people promise that the lawyer will make millions of dollars from their case, if they first provide their services for free and bear huge costs.

Aside from the substantial costs of filing and defending a lawsuit, which is one of the main reasons most cases are resolved before trial, there is also the great possibility that one of the parties will lose. Regardless of how wonderful your case may seem, there is still only a 50% chance of winning. And sometimes if one loses, the opposing party’s filing fees and attorney’s fees are added. Even if one wins, the other party can appeal 1, 2, or 3 higher levels in the legal system, resulting in even higher costs and a longer time to make a decision. This can often last for years. The justice system is not for the faint of heart or the money poor. But more importantly, everything that happens doesn’t always have a legal remedy, and even if you do have a legal remedy, that remedy often requires specific items to be tested. And even if specific items are tested, it doesn’t mean there are valid damages. Unless the mother above can prove that her son’s illness worsened after he was taken off the bus, or that he was unable to take another bus or find another means of transportation that he could take to see the doctor, I think he will have a problem. . time as long as it has been damaged. That does not mean that the bus company will not pay you something to avoid unwanted media attention and inconvenience.

But I don’t have the feeling that your main interest is to prove your case; instead, his main interest is to call the media to express his outrage at his situation, which obviously feels that it exceeds the rights of other passengers to enjoy their trip and not be exposed to diseases.

There have been several cases that I have rejected in which large verdicts were decided after other attorneys accepted the cases. But all of these verdicts were substantially reduced or overturned after 5 to 10 years of litigation. Lawyers generally trust their guts in cases where they will be successful, and although some people criticize lawyers for dissuading them from getting into a disastrous legal battle, after they have fallen off the legal cliff, hopefully. that they learn to respect the opinion of the people. who fight in the legal field on a daily basis.