ForumsShop Talk

Good Question, Sue or not to Sue
First you have to answer 3 questions
Do you have a good case??
If you win, Will they pay??
Is there any alternate available apart from suing??

Hope you have a good Lawyer, LUCKIEST

Men and women like us are too busy either trying to keep the ship afloat or spending time on this message board staying out of trouble. It's kinda like an after school program that way.

No factual basis for this assessment, but I don't think that we are the ones out there initiating lawsuits. I bet that if you look, it would be mainly big companies trying to keep what they've got from upstarts and other juggernauts and individuals trying to right some alleged wrong. High incedents of divorce and incarceration probably play a role in the number of cases too.

I have to say though that I am not a big fan of tort reform. I firmly believe that big companies make decisions based on money knowing that their products have x.y% chance of causing harm. Without the threat of a multibazillion dollar lawsuit to balance the equation, I firmly believe that there will be more lead tainted materials and goodness knows what else. Alar and asbestos might make a comeback too. They must be cheap from low demand.

Because of the performance demanded by shareholders, the distance of decision makers from the customer base and the ever more competitive nature of business, I believe that these big entities don't think like we do. If we know of a product defect, we fix it or scrap it. We don't decide that some level of casualty is economically acceptable.

That is my two cents. I know descend from my soapbox.

Hmm, interesting point of view.
But what about the person who trips and falls down on your drive way. Or the famous McDonald Coffee spill case- we are seeing more and more of this kind of court cases.

Imagine all the money we would save if we did not have to have Liability insurance - At times I wish we lived in the era of 'House on the Prairie"

And dont forget the number of times people decided NOT to volunteer - due to the fear of a court case -

When I was growing up, we took turns in cleaning our own class room. The other day I was talking to a teacher, the schools are scared of getting sued if a child hurts him/ herself, Therefore they have Janitors do the cleaning. One Janitor told me that children are very irresponsible, and dont bother to use trash cans becuase they do not clean the classrooms them selves - This is just one instance we as a country are going to loose. I am sure we all can think of instances like this

So what if we, the small business community got together and tell the rest of the world - that we will no longer sue each other...

I strongly believe the world will be a better place...

The amount of the Golden Arches suit was reduced not throw out completely because the coffee was way hotter than company policy. The manager was attempting to please customers who claimed the coffee was cold by the time they got to work. Never mind that microwaves were in wide use at the time. It was a joke to many but I have seen employees take it upon themselves to go beyond specs with horrible results for the customer and themselves.

I also do not believe companies big or small would behave responsibly without some form of threat of punishment. Look at how many drugs have been placed on the market recently only to be recalled because of known effects, but the company figured they could make so much money before they had to pull it off the shelf.

Trust the state to spend on "education, health, safety etc.?" Yeah, right.

I'm not a big fan of suing but I think it is necessary.

Isn't litigation America's number one growth industry? I'm afraid if people quit suing each other, our entire economy might collapse (I'm writing that tongue-in-cheek).

Seriously, though, it's unrealistic for me to pledge not to sue anyone. I am a strong advocate of talking one-to-one first (as "a way of life" as you put it), because I believe most situations that turn into lawsuits for small businesses could be avoided if there was just better direct communication between the parties involved. That said, however, my business has valuable assets, and there will always be people who try to steal or misuse those assets. It's my job to protect the vested interests of my employees, customers, investors, and suppliers. So unless we revert back to the way rustlers were dealt with in the Old West, I'll have to rely on lawsuits when a "friendly chat" doesn't work.

I agree with dublincpa that a lot of the problem is juries. I get summoned for jury duty frequently, yet I rarely get selected for a panel. The reason (I think) is that plaintiff's attorneys can easily find six or twelve other people who are much more willing than I am to feel sorry for their clients and blame somebody else.

You mentioned the occasional desire to return to the Little House on the Prairie days. In that era, you might survive if you worked hard, helped your neighbors, and they helped you -- but then again, you might do everything right and die anyway. All you got was a chance, with no guarantees. A lot of small business owners today have that same pioneering spirit, but I'm not sure the average American citizen does. A lot of people seem to expect guarantees, and if things don't work out, it has to be someone's fault (other than theirs). I think that's where the root cause of this (and perhaps many other social and economic problems) lies.

Reading between the lines, most of you agree that there are lots of people that think that they are entitled to sue some one and that it is always some one else's fault.

My point is that how do we reverse the trend.

We have to start some where. And then hopefully more and more people will realize that talking together and resolving issues is a lot better than sueing one another and living in fear of being sued

Wouldnt you agree.

If WE the people dont do anything, it is WE the people that are going to suffer...

Seriously though we HAVE to do something.

Can we individually make a pledge that we will not participate in ridiculous law suits - No need to tell the whole world about it - just make an individual pledge.

And also try to reolve conflicts by talking to one another.