Some credit the Brady law for a real or imagined decrease in homicide, but there is another reason. If someone gets mad at somebody else today, they have an alternative to shooting the individual. They can sue the person instead.
Many years ago two editors in Leesville were shot and killed in a short span of time. Today the shooter could simply have sued the editors. The survivors of the editors could have sued the maker of the guns that were used. Lawyers could really have cleaned up.
The lawsuits brought against tobacco firms by people who chose to smoke and then suffered the consequences opened a floodgate. Now suits are being filed against gun manufacturers because someone got shot. The whole thing seems to give credence to Shakespeare when he wrote in one of his plays, “The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers.”
Lawsuits are how lawyers make most of their money. Representing people accused of criminal action is not that profitable, unless, of course, you can get a client like O.J. Simpson. But in a lot of civil cases the lawyer gets a chunk, usually about 30 percent, of any judgment he gets for the client. This contingency fee system has tended to inflate judgments and the number of cases filed, but it is a crucial method for people who have a legitimate case and do not have the means to pay pre-set fees and retainers.
The contingency method is not the only reason for the increase in litigation. Our law schools have been turning out prospective lawyers about as fast as fire ants reproduce. And more and more of them are being admitted to the bar. With more and more men and women trying to make a living in the practice of the law, there naturally is a desire to create more cases. Years ago we made jokes about struggling lawyers chasing ambulances to the scene of an accident.
Modern lawyers have taken to television advertising, urging people to consult with them about some complaint, real or imagined. We see TV ads by lawyers advocating court action to file cases involving accidents, and advocating bankruptcy for folks who spent more money than they should have or lost big sums at a casino. In addition, there are more actions which have been made liable for litigation. Not too many years ago if a person bought cigarettes, smoked them and became sick or dead, that was just too bad. In recent times, though, a number of class-action suits have been filed against tobacco companies for making the coffin nails.
Once upon a time if a person shot another person with a gun, the person who fired the gun was tried and put in prison, or executed, if convicted. Today the trend is turning to suing the manufacturer of the gun. Thus, guns have suffered the same fate as computers. When we become the victim of an error today, we often hear someone say, “The computer fouled up.” Computers do not foul up, the people operating them do. Guns do not wound and kill people, folks shooting the guns at others are the culprits. I wonder if one of these days we will not read about someone suing the makers of computers for errors caused by the person using the computers.
This going back to square one to find someone to blame is not all that modern. Most states have some short of dram shop laws. Such laws hold bartenders and others who supply the spirits responsible for the acts of someone that overdid it in the “spirit” world and caused problems.
Maybe we should establish a system for tort law as we have for criminal law. In a criminal case the prosecution usually has to prove to a grand jury that the state has reasonable cause to take the person to court. Maybe we could establish a “grand jury” sort of institution involving civil suits.
While the contingency fee system has its merit in making the courts available to people who cannot afford the regular lawyer fees, a “civil grand jury” to rule on the propriety of a civil suit could add a protection against frivolous suits. If such a “grand jury” found there was no cause to take such a case to court, the litigant filing the suit would be responsible for court costs and the expenses incurred by the defendant.
Litigation is necessary in many cases, but it should not be just another way for lawyers and plaintiffs to get big money without reasonable cause.
Trivia Time
In what Shakespeare play did the line “The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers,” appear? Answer to last question. “Alibi Ike” was the name his Cub teammates gave a brash rookie in Ring Lardner’s novel.
George Frasher, an independent columnist, is a retired News-Leader Inc. editor and may be reached at 337-238-3433, E-mail frasher@cebridge.net.
Leesville, La. —
