My practice is representing people who have been injured by another person’s negligence. Sometimes this involves a car accident. Sometimes it involves medical malpractice. My clients didn’t cause their injury. My clients were not at fault. Yet I repeatedly hear expressions such as “I’m not a litigious person”, “I never thought I would do anything like this”, or some other expression bordering on guilt that they are even considering retaining a lawyer to assert a claim. I always ask them why they feel that way. I ask them who is going to stand up for them if they do not stand up for themselves. They always agree with me but usually can’t shake a feeling about how others are going to perceive them because they are, in fact, standing up to an insurance company.
Why do people feel this way? The insurance industry and the business community, with a great deal of money and propaganda, have created a picture in the media, in advertisements, and in other ways that we are a “sue happy” society. They have been very effective in doing this. They have distorted the truth about our judicial system and how it works. They have successfully portrayed insurance companies and big business as the victims rather than the real victims of other’s negligence. They have successfully portrayed anyone who stands up to them as greedy people who are looking for an easy buck. They have successfully portrayed legitimate claims as “frivolous”. My own profession has contributed to this by conduct by some which appears to be just what the insurance companies want the public to believe about lawyers. The media reports on cases that involve days and weeks of testimony and evidence and summarize the entire case in 2 paragraphs that can’t begin to tell the true whole story.
As a consequence of all this the general public looks with some disdain on lawsuits. In my experience this is true until it happens to them or a family member. Then the terrible consequences of being seriously injured or a loved one killed comes home. The cold indifference of an insurance company becomes apparent. The assumption that they will be treated fairly disappears. Reality sets in. They realize, if they don’t stand up for themselves or their family, nobody else is!
- Neil Hillyard