LITIGIOUS: excessively or readily inclined to litigate

It's something that has bothered me for years. I've watched us become a nation which is addicted to litigation. We are a litigious society.

There was a time within my memory when the act of suing someone was more isolated, reserved for only the most serious events. It may be that I was raised in a fairly blue collar community, a small town in Upstate New York. Neighbors were considered personal friends, and...the town being only about 8,000 people...almost everybody was considered a neighbor. Disputes, for the most part, were settled face to face in a reasonable manner.

There was less mobility of families then; people tended to grow up, get married, get a job, and buy a house in town and live there for the rest of their lives. It wasn't unheard of for someone to migrate elsewhere, but it was more unusual than it is today. Consequently, people had to live with "the neighbors" for the rest of their lives. Suing them for some infraction was awkward, and created tensions that would be hard to avoid down the road.

Today, however, it seems as if when some kind of infraction occurs the first thing toward which people gravitate is calling the lawyer and commencing litigation. It is especially the trend when a large company or deep pockets can be involved.

Litigation process today calls for extending the suit to everyone who possibly could have any connection to the infraction. A slip and fall on the sidewalk in front of a clothing store can lead to suits involving the municipality, the owner of the clothing store, the company that laid the sidewalk, the provider of the cement, the manufacturer of the shoes the person was wearing, the by-stander who responded with help, the ambulance service, the emergency room staff, the doctor treating the wound, etc., etc., etc. The litigation plan is to get money from every available source, no matter how obscure.

Greed is at the core of much litigation. Many times it starts with the attorney and extends quickly to the victim, the victim's family, and anyone else involved. Frequently the goal is not related to securing a verdict...it is to get a settlement in lieu of litigation. I suspect too many people have watched Perry Mason or Law & Order on TV and have become amateur experts on litigation.

Frivolous litigation used to be a phrase more commonly employed than it is today. I suspect it is more difficult to find the boundaries between serious litigation and frivolous litigation.

In any case, I'm just expressing a frustration. I don't claim to be an attorney, and who knows? If I am wronged today, I may be one of those calling an attorney to pursue litigation. I would like to think that I might be slower on the attack than I have described, but don't hold me to that.


Photo Credit: Ingram Publishing