< I'm sure there are plenty here who would agree it's not likely anyone would ever pay someone as direct and unforgiving as I have been about all of this a single cent unless they had a great deal to fear from the truth coming out in a court of law. >
Actually Ollie it happens quite a bit. And it has nothing to do with "truth" in many cases. Individuals, corporations, insurance companies will often settle because it's easier to pay a person to "go away" than to drag it out in court. I know a few people who were 100% innocent of any charges but they were advised to settle with the plaintiffs by their attorneys.
Case 1 - A friend is driving on the road and hit by a woman in another car. The woman is at fault and a police report states such. She, the woman at fault, sues my friend. He's appalled at such behavior. He consults with an attorney. They review everything and finally get back to him saying that the woman has a history of these driving incidents, and the resulting lawsuits, and that it will be less costly to just pay her off.
Case 2 - A good friend who has a law degree and formerly practiced is now running a long term rental company on a resort island. He knows how to legally protect himself against lawsuit happy people .. or so he thought. Anyway, his contract (lease) states he is not liable for any damages, injuries, etc. that tenants incur while occupying a home, condo, villa. Rather he is acting merely as an agent for the owner of the property. So a tenant lets her kid either fall, or jump out of a second floor window. Never mind that there's no serious injuries. The family sues, first the owner of the property. The owner pays them off to the tune of about $25,000. Then, apparently because they're greedy, they sue my friend. He's livid that the woman, who certainly appears to have been negligent in (not) watching over her own child, has the audacity to sue him. He knows the law; he knows he's innocent. But ... his insurance company, representing his company, suggests he settle as dragging it out in court will cost even more money than paying the people to go away. The plaintiffs got another $30,000 I believe.
In both cases we have people who chose to sue, exploiting the system. Why didn't they take responsibility for their actions? See, this stuff happens. |
