Litigation Explosion

Litigation Explosion

P1DB2

Sheila Andrews

CJUS620-VC-1501B-01

Prof. S. Jefferson

February 22, 2015

Abstract

For the following P1DB2, the concept of “Litigation Explosion” will be addressed. It will begin with an explanation regarding its meaning along with a personal opinion as to its accuracy regarding both trial and appellate courts which will then be followed by examples of Alternative Dispute Resolutions or ADR’s and how they are helping the court systems. It will conclude with a few thoughts regarding how this litigation explosion along with the changes to how disputes are resolved, has affected court administrators?

The Litigation Explosion Era

(Fact or Fiction?)

There is an estimated 50,000 lawsuits filed every day in this country alone. This increase in legal suits has come to be known as the “Litigation Explosion.” For whatever reason, the idea of suing instead of reasoning has risen to epidemic proportions. Divorce settlements, malpractice lawsuits, and personal injury seem to be topping the charts. A recent study found that America spends five times as much as its major industrial competitors on personal-injury wrangling and that over the last two generations the cost of injury litigation has risen fourteen fold while the size of the real U.S. economy has only risen threefold. Tort, malpractice, and product claims are seemingly off the charts. (J. Reuben Clark Law School & BYU, 2006)

Unfortunately, this information is accurate as evidence supporting this theory is abundant. Lengthy docket wait times, expensive attorney fees, and ridiculous law suit commercials, all support this thought and to matters even worse, litigants that feel they will lose in the lower courts are now hiring attorneys from the appellate court system to actually sit in on the case and take notes regarding any type of impropriety so that when the litigant loses in court, they will automatically appeal. (Carney, 2015)

What exactly has this meant for...