When you are sued or when you sue someone, you might think that the biggest bill or liability will come from the opposing party. However, there is often an even larger stakeholder in the lawsuit; someone on your own side; someone who will likely have to be paid first from whatever monies are offered or required to resolve the lawsuit; someone who you might already be legally obligated to pay more than you could ever reasonably expect to recover in court.

The American Rule of Damages

In the United States, the average cost to try a civil lawsuit is between $43,000 and $122,000.  Why does it cost so much, because nothing happens in court without a fight. Nothing is taken for granted.  Attorneys charge by the hour and the ...

Emperor's New Clothes is an old children's story by Hans Christian Andersen about an emperor who pays a lot of money for some new “magic clothes” which he is led to believe can only be seen by wise people.  The clothes do not really exist.  The emperor, however, does not want to admit he cannot see them because that would mean he must not be wise.  So, he parades around his kingdom, essentially nude, hanging on to his belief that he is wearing these magic clothes.  None of the townspeople want to challenge the emperor’s foolhardy belief, so everyone pretends to see the magic clothes too.  That is, until a child shouts, "the emperor has no clothes on!"

The court system was never designed or intended to handle every civil dispute that arises.  However, that doesn’t seem to stop people from continuing to file lawsuits in record numbers.  Unfortunately, only about 5% of all cases filed ever last long enough to get to trial.  More than 95% of all cases filed are later determined to be legally insufficient or otherwise abandoned by the parties  before anything is decided in court.  What a waste of time and money.  We, as a society must do a better job to resolve more of our disputes BEFORE racing to the courthouse.

Add ADR Provisions to All Contracts

There is a lot we can do on our own to handle disputes without wasting so much time in court.&...

Symbols of Justice: Blindfold, Scale and Sword

When you have a conflict or dispute that you can't resolve on your own, where do you go?  You want to take your problem to a place where you can speak and be heard, a  place  where you can be assured that justice will be administered, a place where your problem can be solved once and for all.  Most people think a courtroom is the best place to do this. However, you might be surprised to learn here that a mediator and a mediation conference can actually administer more justice than a judge or jury in court.  Let's closely examine the symbol of justice, Lady Justice. She sets the ...