There’s an unfortunate and somewhat common misconception that many personal injury lawsuits are frivolous. In other words, the people filing them are merely interested in a quick cash grab, rather than any legitimate interest in compensation for damages they sustained.
There are many reasons why this is the case, but it’s very easy to prove the counterfactual. In reality, most personal injury lawsuits aren’t frivolous at all.
These are the most important reasons why.
Filing a Lawsuit Is No Easy Feat
First off, filing a lawsuit is no easy feat. If you’re unfamiliar with the American legal system, you’re going to become intimidated and overwhelmed when you start trying to figure out the process. Even the process of bringing a claim to small claims court can be challenging.
Working with a personal injury attorney makes it much easier for you to file a personal injury lawsuit, since you’ll effectively be delegating all the legal responsibilities to your counsel. That said, hiring a personal injury lawyer is a hard decision. There are likely dozens of different personal injury law firms in your area, and you’ll need to do your due diligence to find the right representative for your needs.
Once filed, a lawsuit can take weeks, months, or even years to fully resolve. It can throw your life into chaos and introduce new stress on top of any injuries you might have sustained.
Most People Don’t File a Lawsuit Unless It’s Practically Necessary
Similarly, most people don’t file a lawsuit at all unless it’s practically necessary to do so. If you slip on a wet floor and bruise your thigh, filing a lawsuit probably wouldn’t even enter your mind. It’s only when the negligent conduct is egregious, or when the damages you sustained are significant enough to threaten your financial future that you would even conceive of filing suit. Although there are always fraudsters willing to take advantage of the system, the vast majority of people are not.
Personal Injuries Can Be Severe
Most of us recognize that severe personal injuries, such as those resulting in death or paralysis, should justify legal action if they were the result of someone’s negligence. However, we’re often dismissive of lesser injuries, like those resulting from falls or burns. The reality is even these relatively minor injuries can result in thousands of dollars of medical bills, property damage, and significant subjective pain and suffering. Those victims are just as entitled to compensation as anyone else.
Medical Bills Are Expensive
Medical expenses are the most common cause of bankruptcy in the United States. If you’re involved in a relatively minor car accident, it’s a good idea to go to the hospital even if you don’t feel you’ve been significantly injured; this is partially because the adrenaline you feel after a car accident can mask very severe injuries. Even a simple hospital visit, if you don’t have insurance, can be exorbitantly expensive. And if you find you have severe injuries or complications, you’ll be faced with even more expenses.
If your injuries were the result of someone else’s negligent conduct, there’s no reason why you should be responsible for paying for the costs associated with them. The only way to compel a negligent party to pay for these costs is to take legal action against them.
Frivolous Cases Are Dismissed
Frivolous personal injury claims are filed regularly. However, they are typically routinely and summarily dismissed. Defendants have multiple opportunities to illustrate why the claim is frivolous and ask the court to throw it out without further consideration. Courts are more than happy to do this, as they don’t want to waste time with frivolous claims.
Most Other Cases Are Settled Out of Court
If a personal injury claim makes it past this stage, it’s probably going to be settled out of court. That means that both the defendant and the plaintiff agree to resolve the case, typically with the defendant paying a fixed, agreed-upon amount to the plaintiff. The fact that both parties are able to reach this resolution implies that there’s a consensus about what actually happened and how much damage it caused.
Personal Injury Law Is Often Mischaracterized (Sometimes on Purpose)
Personal injury lawsuits are often mischaracterized in the media and in pop culture. Sometimes, this mischaracterization is intentional. For example, in the infamous “McDonald’s coffee” case, there were attempts to characterize the case in the press as an example of frivolous litigation, despite severe and expensive injuries resulting from the incident.
It is possible for frivolous personal injury claims to be filed, but they typically don’t last long. The overwhelming majority of personal injury claims are legitimate, and the plaintiffs in them are entitled to at least some compensation.
