Time reports that next month, a new online service-whocanisue.com-will launch, allowing ordinary citizens to determine whether they have any claims against any company or entity in particular that could get them cash, and referring them to lawyers who specialize in their cases if they do. The site will be financed by the lawyers, who will pay a base fee of $1,000 to put their names on the list and additional fees to get big animated boxes and the like. Basically, the site seeks to connect ambulance chasers with people who fall over in the bathroom at Arby’s and file for damages over the internet.
I don’t really know how I feel about the litigous nature of our country. It’s commonly denounced by most public figures and comedians for clogging our courts and allegedly eroding our senses of personal responsibility, but I can’t think of many better ways for consumers to get relief when they’re fucked over.
In the UK, the plaintiff is actually charged with the defendant’s legal fees if he or she loses a suit. This reduces the number of lawsuits, and legal reformers in the US want to see a similar measure taken here. But that makes the financial requirement for attempting to get restitution even higher; if a legitimate class action suit against a power company for dumping uranium in playgrounds fails, I don’t like the idea of the plaintiffs having to pay for the multi-million dollar defense team that screwed them over.
So I guess I do like our culture of litigation. It keeps companies on their toes, and it makes consumers less likely to put up with harmful/malfunctioning shit, which might encourage better products. Our resident libertarian will probably argue that lawsuits are what drives industry to regulate itself, and while I don’t agree that they’re enough to do the job on their own, affordable lawsuits are a vital component in any market economy.
That being said, I look forward to this site coming online. If I can’t call 911 over my missing Taco Bell fire sauce, maybe I can get some sweet pain-and-suffering fees.
Great idea for a site, until somebody sues them for misinformation.