Law and Rights
There've been a lot of articles written about civil jury trials clogging the court system with frivolous cases and trials. The Ohio Supreme Court requires every court in Ohio to report its statistics every year for detailed analysis and, guess what, the urban legend of too many lawsuits turns out to be a lie. They just release the statistics for year 2007 and it proves that what we have been hearing in the media is just plain false.
It turns out that in Ohio there were less than 5 trials per Common Pleas Court Judge (there is one Common Pleas Court in each Ohio county). It actually works out to an average of 4.7. That's barely one trial every 3 months. Page 33 of the Report (click here to read it) showed that there were a lot more criminal trials (where someone is threatened with jail time) than civil trials (where corporations and people are suing other corporations and people for money).
When comes to what the court system defines as product liability trials, the stuff of "tort reform" claims by the insurance protection industry, it turns out that there were only 5 trials in the entire state in the entire year (see page 45 of the Report). Cleveland only had one. Columbus had none at all and neither did Cincinnati.
Hard line conservatives have joined the National Chamber of Commerce (a strong pro-business organization that has opposed consumer protection reforms) for years, in crying out that tort reform was needed to stop the lawsuit crisis. Well, it turns out there is no lawsuit crisis.
'course the problem is that Americans have been hearing the media cry wolf so long that everyone thinks there really is a wolf in the courthouse. There is, alright, but it's the insurance company that is the wolf in the courthouse.
And too many lawsuits? Well, it turns out that in truth there were actually fewer lawsuits at the end of the year than there were at the start of the year (see page 29 of the Report).
You can argue and debate all you like, but the numbers from Ohio's highest Court are the numbers that exist. So what does this teach us?
For one thing, when the insurance industry and the conservative pundits cry wolf, watch your wallet. I don't know about you, but my insurance rates didn't go down when the cries about wolf went up.
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Law and Rights
Too Many Lawsuits ?
There've been a lot of articles written about civil jury trials clogging the court system with frivolous cases and trials. The Ohio Supreme Court requires every court in Ohio to report its statistics every year for detailed analysis and, guess what, the urban legend of too many lawsuits turns out to be a lie. They just release the statistics for year 2007 and it proves that what we have been hearing in the media is just plain false.
It turns out that in Ohio there were less than 5 trials per Common Pleas Court Judge (there is one Common Pleas Court in each Ohio county). It actually works out to an average of 4.7. That's barely one trial every 3 months. Page 33 of the Report (click here to read it) showed that there were a lot more criminal trials (where someone is threatened with jail time) than civil trials (where corporations and people are suing other corporations and people for money).
When comes to what the court system defines as product liability trials, the stuff of "tort reform" claims by the insurance protection industry, it turns out that there were only 5 trials in the entire state in the entire year (see page 45 of the Report). Cleveland only had one. Columbus had none at all and neither did Cincinnati.
Hard line conservatives have joined the National Chamber of Commerce (a strong pro-business organization that has opposed consumer protection reforms) for years, in crying out that tort reform was needed to stop the lawsuit crisis. Well, it turns out there is no lawsuit crisis.
'course the problem is that Americans have been hearing the media cry wolf so long that everyone thinks there really is a wolf in the courthouse. There is, alright, but it's the insurance company that is the wolf in the courthouse.
And too many lawsuits? Well, it turns out that in truth there were actually fewer lawsuits at the end of the year than there were at the start of the year (see page 29 of the Report).
You can argue and debate all you like, but the numbers from Ohio's highest Court are the numbers that exist. So what does this teach us?
For one thing, when the insurance industry and the conservative pundits cry wolf, watch your wallet. I don't know about you, but my insurance rates didn't go down when the cries about wolf went up.
Burdge Law Office
www.OhioConsumerLaw.com
Helping Consumers Protect Themselves Since 1978.
To find a consumer law lawyer near you, anywhere in the US, click here.
www.OhioConsumerLaw.com
Helping Consumers Protect Themselves Since 1978.
To find a consumer law lawyer near you, anywhere in the US, click here.
Subscribe in a reader- Ohio Businesses Under Attack
Ohio has long had one of the strongest business protection laws in the country. What few people know, though, is that it also is one of the strongest consumer protection laws in the country too. Having strong laws is good. They protect...
- Forest Rive And Heartland Rv Go At Each Other, Again.
You hear a lot about frivolous lawsuits filed by people trying to make a quick buck and tying up the courts and making attorney fees and legal costs outrageously expensive for businesses. Well, there?s more to that story than meets the eye. Most lawsuits...
- The "good Hands" People?
Are you in good hands? Maybe. Maybe not. The results are in of a comprehensive investigation of thousands of legal documents and financial filings by the American Association for Justice to determine the best and the worst of the insurance companies....
- There's A New Sheriff In Town
Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Magistrate Judge Nadine Ballard has been picked by newly elected Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann to head the state's Consumer Protection Section. There could not have been a better choice made for this critically...
- Judges Say Frivolous Lawsuits Don't Exist
Federal judges are saying that all the publicity over so-called "frivolous lawsuits" is just hype. It isn't a major problem in the federal courts, say the overwhelming majority of federal judges. The Washington-based Federal Judicial Center conducted...