We’ve all read those ridiculous lawsuit stories. Whether it is millions of dollars awarded for lost pants at the dry cleaners or its awarding a criminal damages because he was injured robbing someone’s home, they make for great late night talk show jokes and office chatter.
But, did you know that these lawsuits are costing each of us millions of dollars every year in higher taxes, increased cost of goods and services and lost jobs?
Here are just a few real life stories and their impacts.
A former employee of the Town of Amherst filed a wrongful termination suit against the town after first being suspended and then fired 2 years later for incompetence and misconduct. Although the highest courts in New York refused to hear the case, it cost the town $1.2 million in legal fees.
A Brooklyn man fell victim to the deceptive practices of lawsuit lending, also know as non-recourse civil litigation advance contracts. Joseph Gill borrowed $4,000 from lawsuit lenders to pay for medical expenses and surgeries in 2006 after a false arrest left him with serious back injuries. Five years later, the verdict came in Gill’s favor and the lenders are looking for $116,000 to pay back the $4,000 in loans; The interest of the two loans being 58% and an outrageous 70%. While such numbers may seem unreal or illegal, they are common in lawsuit loans.
A Syracuse manufacturing firm with 14 employees paid 100% of its’ employees’ health insurance 10 years ago. As insurance rates have risen (partly as a result of defensive medicine and New York’s lawsuit-friendly legal system), the company now must ask its employees to shoulder 35% of the costs. Over the last two years, the company has seen insurance rates rise almost 30%, 12.58% in just the last year.
A New York City jury awarded $4.3 million to a criminal shot by police after he brutally mugged a 71-year-old man on a subway.
A Newburgh woman intentionally drove her minivan off a boat ramp, killing herself and three of her four children. Months following this devastating incident her estranged boyfriend filed a lawsuit against both the City of Newburg and Orange County, suing them for $40 million each.
Many New Yorkers feel that our litigious culture can not be changed. The truth is, with your help, we CAN make a difference! Join LRANY today.
