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From: inc@fluke.UUCP (Gary Benson)
Newsgroups: net.legal,net.flame
Subject: Re: Silly Lawsuits
Message-ID: <663@tpvax.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 2-Aug-85 14:59:25 EDT
Article-I.D.: tpvax.663
Posted: Fri Aug  2 14:59:25 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 4-Aug-85 10:22:14 EDT
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Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA
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Xref: watmath net.legal:1976 net.flame:11461

*** ANTIMONY TODAY FOR TOOTH DECAY ***

>>> A man filed suit against a tavern for negligently serving him excessive
>>> amounts of alcohol, leading to his arrest and humiliation...
>>>
>>> Is there any justification for this sort of thing?

>> Yes there is.  Anyone can sue anyone for any reason.  The way one
>> discovers whether the reason is on or off the wall is in the trial.
 
> The point is that trials cost tax money.  No other civilized nation,
> or I supposed uncivilized ones, has as many lawsuits on as many trivial
> issues as the US.  Most should never come to trial in the first place.


This discussion brings to mind a talk I had with my attorney a few years
back. I asked his opinion of the program "People's Court" and he surprised
me by saying he thought it was excellent for several reasons: first, it is a
teaching tool for the great American public to learn about how disputes are
really settled, what kinds of issues the judge must address, which are
discretionary, and so on. He said that Wapner's role is founded in the fact
of California law, and he works within that framework in his decisions.

His second reason was that it shows us a way to handle silly lawsuits
without tying up the overburdened court system. Maybe we need an
intermediary to make a preliminary finding of merit (silliness quotient?) and 
then direct the disputants to other avenues: binding arbitration, Silly
People's Court, or the real thing. It might also be good if the courts kept
records of lawsuits per annum by individuals. I've met at least one person
who was a habitual suer - she had developed the idea that there is no
justice for the average person unless you at least threatened court.

And reality seemed to bear out her thesis - she once loaned her car to me
(very reluctantly) to move, and while I had it, another car skidded on a
patch of ice and cracked a *miniscule* piece of plastic from her front
grill. She told me I had to pay to have the whole grill replaced (wouldn't
even let me install it). A bit of airplane cement would have made it good as
new. I told her she was being ridiculous to expect that, but she only had to
say the word "court" once to get me to pay up the 50 bucks. My point is that
to her the 50 dollars was apparently worth more than our friendship. I
really believe that if we had been able to go to a silliness counselor, I
could have saved at least half the cost, and possibly the friendship. And
nobody would have used expensive judicial resources on something as minor as
a chunk of plastic grill.



-- 
 Gary Benson  *  John Fluke Mfg. Co.  *  PO Box C9090  *  Everett WA  *  98206
   MS/232-E  = =   {allegra} {uw-beaver} !fluke!inc   = =   (206)356-5367
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