Personal injury industry is out of control

According to the advocacy group Faces of Lawsuit Abuse (facesoflawsuitabuse.org), the average cost of the personal injury industry in the United States is $3,300 per year for an average family of four. This is close to the average amount of annual federal income taxes paid by the same family.

The cost of litigation is hidden in insurance premiums we pay and also in the price of virtually all goods and services we consume, as a by-product of their production cost. A small business that sells 1 million dollars worth of products per year will spend an average of $20,000 per year on litigation control.

The growth of the personal injury industry has outpaced the growth of our gross domestic product by an average of 2% each year since 1950. Our civil justice system costs about 252 billion dollars per year, which represents 1.83% of our gross domestic product. It has been cited as a major factor in the rise of the cost of health care in the United States.

Much of our civil litigation system is fraught with frivolous lawsuits, coercive tactics by lawyers to force out of court settlements, excess damage awards by juries, and outrageous hourly fees charged for legal services. Not to mention the annoying and totally relentless print and media advertising by personal injury lawyers.

The bulk of this “litigation tax” we all pay goes to pay lawyer fees, insurance premiums and to run the court system. Only a fraction of it trickles down to the plaintiffs who win lawsuits or who settle out of court. Those who receive judgments or settlements out of court see much of their award go to pay legal fees. Thus, a system originally set up with good intentions to protect the individual, has evolved into a wealth re-distribution system, the chief benefactors of which are lawyers and the court system.

The personal injury attorney has become the poster child of what is wrong with not only our civil justice system, but also our society as a whole. Everyone is looking for a handout, a free lunch, an entitlement. If there was once any doubt in anyone’s mind about the virtue of bringing a lawsuit, it was long ago drummed out of all of our minds by the constant barrage of TV, radio, billboard and printed ads from personal injury lawyers, encouraging us to sue anyone for just about any reason.

Everything bad that happens to us surely must by someone else’s fault, and they must pay. I know an associate of mine who sued a doctor (and won) because he  prescribed a certain weight loss medicine for her father, who latter died.  Never mind that the real reason he died was that he weighed over three hundred pounds, was elderly and had diabetes. She had also won an unrelated lawsuit earlier in her life, and her son currently has two lawsuits pending for unrelated matters. If someone were to ask me what she does for a living, I would tell them she is a professional litigant.

Several years ago I was the victim of a personal injury that was caused, in part, by the negligence of another individual. A person’s dog caused me to fall from my bicycle, resulting in a compound fracture of my collarbone and a half year of paralysis of my right hand. I endured much personal anguish as I had to learn to write and do just about everything with my left hand, not to mention the pain associated with six bones growing back together and the fear that I would never be able to use my hand again.

A long story short, my paralysis went away and my bones healed. After a year or so, I was pretty much back to normal again. My health insurance paid for eighty percent of my medical bills, and the dog owner's home owner’s insurance paid for the balance. I didn’t lose any time at work, as I learned to use my left hand to write and type.

My friends encouraged me to sue, and I am sure I could have secured a significant ransom for my pain and suffering. But I refused, reasoning that it would be more equitable for me to earn my living, rather than get something for nothing. In the end, no one was really at fault, the dog and I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Instead of more ads from personal injury attorneys, what we need in this country is more examples like mine, of civil responsibility. Doctors help us stay well, corporations produce goods and services that we consume, our neighbors and families help us get through our day, and nursing homes take care of our elderly and the sick. The personal injury industry preys on these staples of our society, draining resources away from them and ultimately us, so that they can line their pockets at our expense. We all suffer on a daily basis for one reason or another because life is hard; it serves no public good for us to seek compensation for our suffering at the expense of our fellow citizens.

There were no personal injury ads when I was younger, because they were illegal. And I suspect they were illegal because responsible individuals foresaw the consequence of making them legal. We are now living with those consequences. We are fast becoming a society of individuals looking out not for the welfare of our neighbors, but simply for whatever personal gain we can find for ourselves. The personal injury industry has legitimized the concept that it is OK to work the system for our personal gain, even though this is clearly not in the best interest of our society as a whole.

 

I know this article may fall on deaf ears. As sure as the sun will set this evening, when I tune in to watch television tonight, I will be reminded that if I have a phone, I have a lawyer. And if I should slip and fall on my way home, surely there is a number I should call. But I know in my mind what is right and what is wrong. Even if my words fall on deaf ears, at least I had my day in the court of public opinion.