Washington Examiner – Bull market for Litigation, Inc.
While many companies are hitting the reset button and entire areas of commerce are stuck at an unprofitable pause, at least one industry — Litigation, Inc. — remains on a fast-forward growth pace.
Unfortunately, what’s good for this multi-billion dollar industry isn’t good for America. Its parasitic business model and unregulated pursuit of riches hampers U.S. economic recovery.
As recently as two years ago, it seemed like the litigation industry’s bubble was about to explode. Major media stories declared that trial lawyers had been “trounced” and pronounced the end of mass-tort class actions.
Lawsuit market leaders like Bill Lerach and Richard Scruggs had respectively pled guilty to fraud and bribery, and were headed to jail. Trial judges like Janice Graham Jack had exposed lawyers and doctors who dangerously manufactured baseless injury claims. The U.S. Supreme Court was issuing decisions which reduced outrageous punitive damages and curtailed lawyer-driven litigation.
But the bubble never burst. Instead, it continues to swell in size and strength. Unresolved mass litigation still lingers like bad loans on business balance sheets, and financially weakened companies are more susceptible than ever to shakedown lawsuits aimed at compelling settlements. And yet, our government appears recklessly determined to pile on further liability burdens and risks.
Washington Examiner
5/21/9
Magnolia Tribune
