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Sue or not to Sue, Today New York Times, Business Section
"The Foreclosure Machine" An industry (Lawyers) Thrives on Housing Woes.
An army of law firms who represent mortgage lenders, have been
raking in mounting profits. They get paid by the volume.
Again LUCKIEST

Many years ago I was told by a very wise person: When two entities sue each other, there is only
one winner...the attorney. My observations and experience over the years confirm that this is oh so true.

Unfortunately and regrettably, litigation is extremely expensive, completely out of the question for most small businesses.This is particularly so when a small business finds itself up against a larger business because in this case, justice has nothing remotely to do with either the law or what or who is 'right'...it has everything to do with which side has the largest 'war chest' and can out-legal-expense the other. I realize this is a very sad commentary on our society and legal system, but it is absolutely the case.

As a small businessperson, I am seriously looking into pre-paid legal services to handle any future legal issues that might arise. . Anybody have any stories or experiences to share about pre-paid? I am very curious to find out if worthwhile or not.

BG
www.MerchantServices-help.com

I LOVE this forum. Pragmatism meets Idealism. Of course we need tort reform. McDonald's case is a great example of the complexity though. You have to ask yourself if you were "injured" and you knew that you could legally take enough money to retire on as a result, would you really walk away? I don't think just asking everyone to play nice w/ that potential in place just won't work.

That case hurt a corporation that never should have been hit as hard as it was. But where we really need reform is in Family Law and no one is talking about it because it's policitally incorrect to do so. With divorce rates as high as they are nearly all of us have been damaged in one way or another by a system that is not interested in the "family" and is only interested in transfering wealth from one person to another according to their agenda. But that's another forum, I'm sure!

You left out the politicians. Please don't forget them.

But lets be honest, most large companies are no better than the lawyers and politicians. How many business scandals does it take before we admit that our system is sick? And most of us are modeling our business practices after whom? How can anyone expect to be different when you model your business after the companies we complain about?

Ethics and morals are things to be studied instead of practiced and lived.

And to all those using the McDonald's case as an example of a broken system, please get the facts. This was not a frivolous lawsuit. Check it out here: www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm or here www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's_coffee_case or here www.library.findlaw.com/1999/Nov/1/129862.html

I think it is brave and admirable to want to trust man to do the right thing without being forced but we haven't shown ourselves mature enough for this to be our reality.

A pledge NOT TO SUE?????

I will agree with the commenters that have singled out the 'tort idiocy'. But a blanket agreement not to sue? No. Never.

If it had not been for my attorney, we would have lost a pice of property in a limited partnership when the limited partner got completely crazy on us. If it had NOT been for our attorney we would have ended up in court in a huge lawsuit.

There are some things that cannot be solved with a handshake, and SHOULD NOT be solved with a handshake.

If we really believe that is an one another world, then we all need to act like it. Trouble is, greedy, horrid people will try to take advantage of morally intelligent people.

You can't change human nature.