LAWSUITS ARE ABOUT MONEY, NOT JUSTICE

The title gets your attention, doesn’t it?

Trial lawyers often speak of “seeking justice.” I have done so myself – quite sincerely, in fact. There are wrongs that must be addressed and injuries to be redressed. We fight the good fight. We challenge powerful corporations and insurance companies. My firm even takes on the United States government.

All the above is true. That means we’re seeking justice, right?

Kind of, sort of, maybe

The sticking point comes when you take a cold hard look at what claims and lawsuits can and cannot achieve. The only real measure for these efforts is money. We sue for money. Through settlements or trials, we get money. We and our clients are paid from the money we get.

Reality: Money is not justice.

A great seven figure recovery will not bring back a dead parent or child. It will not undo the consequences of a delayed cancer diagnosis. Money may help someone cope better with devastating permanent injuries, but it does not restore health.

In the world of litigation, a plaintiff getting paid does not mean that the wrongdoer has really faced the consequences of his or her act or omission. In fact, often, no real consequences are suffered. Insurance allows people and businesses to avoid that direct impact.

Even more troubling is the fact that many wrongs do not provide a viable basis for a legal claim. In evaluating a case, we must look at what we can prove. In medical cases, that proof involves experts which means there are significant costs involved. We consider the likelihood of persuading a jury or judge. The potential range of a damage award is addressed. The reality is that any reasonable lawyer can only take on those cases where there is a decent chance of getting a good recovery. That is, getting money.

Every day, we must decline to take cases for people whose injuries are quite real and whose medical care was not great. We end up doing so because we conclude that the probability of “connecting the dots” is just not sufficient to justify the resources required to prosecute a claim.

The potential clients we decline are not undeserving. Not at all. The harm which befell them is quite real. Those particular circumstances, however, do not give us the basis to bring a claim for money damages.

Yes, that is unfair. And it is an unfairness which we can’t fix.

Often, clients will tell us that their case is “not about money.” When that happens, I always steer them back to the reality that their case is, in fact, about money.

As noted above, money is not justice. But courts and lawsuits are the only tool available to redress wrongs, imperfect and incomplete though it all might be.

All of this sounds harsh and even kind of depressing. It often is. However, clients and prospective clients need lawyers who will be honest with them. Such honesty is sometimes difficult to accept. People frequently don’t want to hear it.

Yet, any lawyer who is not straight with people about what litigation can and cannot accomplish is doing no one any favors.