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From: harry@ucbarpa
Newsgroups: net.legal
Subject: Re: Liability Lawsuits Getting Out of Hand
Message-ID: <9290@ucbvax.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 23-Jul-85 23:58:35 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.9290
Posted: Tue Jul 23 23:58:35 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 25-Jul-85 07:19:03 EDT
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Organization: University of California at Berkeley
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From: harry@ucbarpa (Harry I. Rubin)

Subject: Re: Liability Lawsuits Getting Out of Hand
In-Reply-To: <4035@alice.UUCP>
References: <743@infopro.UUCP>

In article <4035@alice.UUCP> ark writes:

>> A man filed suit against a tavern for negligently serving him excessive
>> amounts of alcohol, leading to his arrest and humiliation after he stabbed
>> another man during an argument.
>> 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.

Yes, but these silly lawsuits have serious drawbacks:
- the defendant must bear the burden in time and money of hiring a lawyer
	and preparing a defense. I imagine this can be a big problem.
- the defendant is probably scared to death that the court will find against
	him/her. Even if it is very unlikely, it could happen.
- it clogs the court system, slowing down or blocking its serious business.
- personal opinion: I feel that it contributes to a moral (ethical?)
	breakdown in society. People bring lawsuits because they might get
	something out of it, not because they have suffered a real wrong.
	This encourages other people to think and act the same way: out for
	whatever they can get regardless of the rights and wrongs of means
	or ends. The law, the judicial system, becomes not a protector of
	the downtrodden, not the dispenser of justice, not a guide to 
	acceptable behavior, but a tool to be used, even twisted,
	for what you can get out of it.

On the other hand, it is nice to know that if I feel wronged and there is
no other course to redress, I can sue the bastard(s).