Celebrate Lawsuit Awareness Week and Stop the Cycle of Lawsuit Abuse

It’s that time of year again. That’s right, today kicks off the first day of Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Week (LAAW)! Every year, SOL dedicates one week to raising awareness about how lawsuit abuse affects consumers, taxpayers, small businesses, business owners, and the overall economy. Abusive lawsuits truly cost all of us – they harm the economy, stifle job creation, threaten our access to affordable, quality health care, and delay justice for the truly injured by clogging our courts.

This LAAW, SOL is breaking down the cycle of lawsuit abuse.  What is the cycle of lawsuit abuse, you ask? Lawsuit abuse perpetuates in our society through a cycle of unscrupulous actions by personal injury lawyers, lawmakers, and plaintiffs:

Bad laws encourage abusive lawsuits that line the pockets of personal injury lawyers: Bad laws create more reasons and opportunities to sue a person or business, encouraging personal injury lawyers to exploit the law and create questionable lawsuits. Trial lawyers have become experts in taking advantage of poorly written or outdated laws to further their own interests and perpetuate lawsuit abuse.

Personal injury lawyers aggressively recruit plaintiffs to file lawsuits and generate lawsuit fees: These bad laws allow a personal injury lawyer to recruit plaintiffs and file lawsuits for little to no reason. If there is a settlement, the lawyer takes a large portion of plaintiffs’ earnings.

Personal injury lawyers donate to political campaigns to influence lawmakers: Personal injury lawyers are increasingly using the significant funds at their disposal to invest in political and judicial campaigns to elect officials who will make states’ legal environments even friendlier to trial lawyers.

Trial lawyer-friendly politicians protect existing bad laws, and write new ones that encourage abuse: Once elected, these officials will block legal reforms and vote for legislation that will help these lawyers file more lawsuits, encouraging the abuse.

In summary, the bad laws that encourage lawsuit abuse are written by lawmakers whose campaigns are funded by personal injury lawyers. Now more than ever, we want you, as a consumer, to be aware of lawsuit abuse throughout the judicial system.