U.S. Lawsuit Epidemic: How to Protect Yourself from Lawsuit-Happy Lawyers

Everyone who has assets is a target! These are important words to remember. Any resident or citizen of the United States that has any type of insurance or assets is a target for lawyers who are looking for nothing more than a huge payoff. In the past, a lawsuit was about suing somebody because they had caused injury to another party. Unfortunately, times have changed. Lawyers are greedier than ever and they seek out those who have assets and insurance policies. It is a sort of proactive marketing and most lawyers find it very easy to find a "victim."

There are only a few countries in the entire world that permit lawyers to receive contingent fees that are based on a certain amount of judgment for their client. The United States is one of those countries. Lawyers who work for contingent fees have a very high chance at making millions of dollars on just a single case. This is why they look for cases that would involve individuals with assets and insurance.

A known statistic is that there are more than 700,000 lawyers in the United States alone. This is an amazing number. Not all of these lawyers are involved in legal cases where someone is being sued. Out of the 700,000 lawyers, there are about 66,000 who belong to the ABA Litigation Section. On top of that, there are only about one third of the 700,000 that belong to the ABA. That means that there are approximately 198,000 lawyers who make their money by suing people. In essence, this means that for every 400 families residing in the country, there is one lawyer just looking for someone to sue.

If these sue-happy lawyers were to focus on the top ten percent of the available market, they would be seeking out forty people out of that group of 400. Those 40 people would be the targets. The people being sued will typically have a lot of assets and large insurance policies. These lawyers hang in the background waiting for one person to make a mistake. They jump at the chance to get a case that has contingent fees. Basically, if you have any money, you are at risk. In 1989, 1.2% of all families that had an income of over $50,000 were sued.

Lawyers will use any excuse they can to get their hands on your money. Some of the most common excuses include civil rights violations, personal injury claims, divorce, employee injuries, malpractice and product liability and federal and state tax liens. It is important to be aware that you are not only responsible for your own actions. You are also liable for the acts of your children, employees, spouse and partners, basically, anyone that makes use of your property. In the past, people were only held liable if there was fault or negligence. That is no longer the case. Now, the lawyers and court system are far more concerned with finding ways to get money for the plaintiff than about whether the defendant was ever at fault.