Lawsuits are what make the authorized world go ‘spherical. With out some type of authorized continuing that lets you pursue some type of recourse for errors and misdeeds, it might be exhausting to get folks and companies to do the proper factor after one thing goes incorrect.
However with regards to lawsuits, there’s no query that these skilled issues can shortly turn out to be private. It doesn’t matter what aspect of the – actual or hypothetical – go well with you’re on, you’re certain to develop a powerful private opinion with reference to lawsuits.
To raised perceive this opinion, we determined {that a} deep dive into authentic information surrounding public perceptions of lawsuits was so as. We requested greater than 1,000 folks their sincere, nameless opinions on issues regarding lawsuits, legal professionals, automobile accidents, and insurance coverage. On this, half 2 of our 3-part sequence (See Half 1; Attorneys and Lawsuits within the Public Eye), we look at the traits and surprises revealed by our survey information.
Survey Methodology
To raised perceive what the general public actually thinks about lawsuits, we surveyed greater than 1,000 women and men throughout numerous age teams, geographic areas, and revenue ranges. The survey was nameless to encourage respondents to be utterly sincere of their solutions – and a few of what they mentioned actually took us abruptly.
Survey Highlights
Though attorneys take care of lawsuits every day, we spend most of our time with a small portion of the inhabitants – those that have (or might have) the grounds for a viable damage lawsuit. So we don’t know as a lot as we might take into consideration how outsiders to the authorized system see lawsuits.
We anticipated to be taught a factor or two about most people’s notion of lawsuits, however right here’s what most shocked us concerning the survey outcomes.
The overwhelming majority of respondents would take into account suing, however solely beneath the proper circumstances.
Greater than 95% of survey members would sue, however their motivation for suing ranges from merely feeling “wronged” to authorized motion being completely essential because of the critical impression on the sufferer’s life.
Nearly half of respondents would by no means even take into account suing a cherished one – and meaning extra than half would sue (and have already considered when they’d sue).
The 2 components that impacted the choice to sue a buddy or member of the family: how dangerous the sufferer’s accidents had been and whether or not the cherished one or the insurance coverage firm needed to foot the invoice.
A small however stunning group of respondents would sue purely for cash, revenge or to stay it to the insurance coverage firm.
For 11% of survey takers, these motivations are apparently what would drive them to pursue a lawsuit.
Most individuals aren’t sellouts – however practically 1 in 5 would do some fairly shady issues to win that lawsuit lottery.
Greater than 80% of respondents say they wouldn’t have interaction in dishonest conduct to win a $100,000 accident settlement. The practically 20% remaining are prepared to do all the things from exaggerating actual accidents to getting right into a collision deliberately.
The Hypothetical Situations That Would Trigger Somebody to Sue
We kicked off this lawsuit-based part of our survey by asking respondents to suppose exhausting about whether or not they would ever, beneath any circumstances, sue somebody.
Console, Richard P., Console and Associates, P.C. “2020 Public Notion of Attorneys, Insurance coverage Corporations & Lawsuits.” Powered by Survey Monkey.
57.05% of respondents mentioned, “I’d solely sue somebody if I felt it was completely essential.”
29.23% of respondents mentioned, “I’d sue somebody if I felt I used to be wronged and a lawyer thinks it’s a superb case.”
8.83% of respondents mentioned, “Sure, I’d sue somebody if I felt wronged.”
4.89% of respondents mentioned, “No, I’d by no means sue somebody.”
The vast majority of survey members – 57 %, to be precise – mentioned they’d sue somebody provided that completely essential. To be sincere, this half doesn’t shock us. Most of our shoppers aren’t individuals who had been in search of a lawsuit.
They don’t need to sue anybody, however they do want compensation to allow them to get higher.
The following hottest reply was one other “sure” with a qualifier. On this case, these respondents mentioned they’d sue if two circumstances had been met: 1.) they felt wronged, and a pair of.) an legal professional informed them that they’ve a superb case.
It’s just a little shocking that just about 1 in 10 members would sue purely as a result of they felt wronged – no matter whether or not there have been accidents or precise losses concerned. Is it a professional authorized matter, or only a grudge to settle?
This small however vocal group have to be what folks with professional claims imply after they say to us – as they usually do – that they’re “not the kind of individual to sue.”
Lastly, the practically 5 % of respondents who would by no means, ever sue any individual, for any cause – we’re not so certain we purchase it. In an ideal world, nobody would ever have to sue anybody, however in the true world, folks make errors, harmless folks get harm, and a lawsuit is typically the one recourse out there.
Public Opinion on Suing Household Members or Pals
Would you sue a member of the family? How a couple of buddy? Underneath the proper circumstances, most individuals would.
Console, Richard P., Console and Associates, P.C. “2020 Public Notion of Attorneys, Insurance coverage Corporations & Lawsuits.” Powered by Survey Monkey.
47.74% of respondents mentioned, “No, I’d by no means sue a member of the family or buddy.”
31.58% of respondents mentioned, “I’d take into account suing a member of the family or buddy if the damage was extreme sufficient.”
19.45% of respondents mentioned, “I’d sue a member of the family or buddy, however provided that it might be paid by their insurance coverage.”
1.22% of respondents mentioned, “Sure, and I’ve finished it previously.”
This one’s a tricky one. It didn’t shock us that 47.74 % of respondents mentioned they’d “by no means” sue a buddy beneath any circumstances. It’s definitely not a place anybody would ever need to be in, and it is smart why this reply acquired essentially the most assist.
It’s not a shock to us that so many individuals would have a tough time arising with a hypothetical state of affairs during which they’d truly sue a buddy or member of the family. Even our shoppers who actually did have to sue their cherished one to get the compensation they wanted had been reluctant to take action.
As attorneys, we’ve seen many conditions during which a lawsuit towards a cherished one was acceptable. We had been truly pleasantly shocked what number of of our survey members did appear to have the ability to envision these eventualities.
In all, 52.25% of respondents answered that they would sue a buddy or member of the family, though simply over 1% of survey takers had truly finished so. Extra respondents based mostly their choice on the severity of their accidents than on who could be on the hook for paying the settlement.
Concern Over Being Sued for an Auto Accident
After we’d requested whether or not members would sue another person, we needed to try the flip aspect. What about being sued?
Console, Richard P., Console and Associates, P.C. “2020 Public Notion of Attorneys, Insurance coverage Corporations & Lawsuits.” Powered by Survey Monkey.
34.21% of respondents mentioned, “I believe persons are in search of causes to sue in a automobile accident.”
32.24% of respondents mentioned, “I believe it might be uncommon for somebody to sue me in a automobile accident.”
26.03% of respondents mentioned, “No, I don’t suppose a lawsuit will occur.”
7.52% of respondents mentioned, “I’m very involved about being sued in a automobile accident.”
Being named in a lawsuit is a scary prospect – however not, apparently, for everybody. Altogether, 58.27% of respondents reported (by means of two separate solutions) that they weren’t involved about being the goal of a lawsuit.
Is that this denial? Are these survey members simply such irreproachable drivers that they will say with full certainty that no at-fault crash may ever tarnish their spotless driving file?
It’s price noting that the only reply with the most important share of responses is extra cynical, and for 7% of respondents, this concern could border on paranoia.
In the event you occur to fall into this extra fearful crowd, you need to know that being sued over a automobile accident isn’t as critical an issue as you might suppose. If this does occur, your auto insurance coverage firm is contractually obligated to defend you, together with hiring (and paying for) an legal professional to symbolize you and paying the settlement or jury award out of the insurance coverage protection you bought.
Most automobile accident claims don’t even go to trial, and – so long as you will have ample insurance coverage – it’s unlikely so that you can face any private monetary hardship because of the lawsuit. Even in case you are sued and lose, the worst factor that may most likely occur to you is that your insurance coverage premiums may go up. Nonetheless, that may additionally occur even when you’re not sued, if the insurer determines that your collision is taken into account a “chargeable accident.”
The High Causes Why Injured Automobile Accident Victims Don’t Sue
In our earlier put up, we established {that a} shocking portion of respondents – 15% – reported that they might have sued for a automobile accident however didn’t. This time, we needed to take it a step additional and discover out why folks injured in any kind of accident would determine to not sue.
Console, Richard P., Console and Associates, P.C. “2020 Public Notion of Attorneys, Insurance coverage Corporations & Lawsuits.” Powered by Survey Monkey.
51.60% of respondents mentioned, “I’ve by no means been injured that was another person’s fault.”
26.13% of respondents mentioned, “I didn’t suppose my damage was dangerous sufficient.”
14.29% of respondents mentioned, “I’m not that kind of individual.”
10.43% of respondents mentioned, “Authorized course of was an excessive amount of bother.”
9.96% of respondents mentioned, “I didn’t understand I may sue on the time.”
9.77% of respondents mentioned, “I believed it might be too costly.”
7.52% of respondents mentioned, “The one that precipitated the damage was a buddy or member of the family.”
6.48% of respondents mentioned, “I felt like it might harm the opposite individual financially.”
3.48% of respondents mentioned, “I believe it’s incorrect to sue somebody.”
Luckily, most individuals taking our survey have by no means been ready to sue, with 51% reporting that that they had by no means been injured on account of another person’s actions.
Of the practically half of respondents who did undergo an damage that was another person’s fault, the most typical cause for not suing was as a result of they didn’t suppose the damage was dangerous sufficient to warrant a lawsuit. Truthful sufficient, though we hate to see accident victims make that decision on their very own with out chatting with an legal professional (or, oftentimes, even a health care provider), as a result of some accidents are extra critical than they initially seem.
A few of the different solutions actually shocked us, although. Almost 10% of respondents claimed they didn’t understand they might sue.
Actually? Have they by no means seen an legal professional’s billboard? By no means heard these all-too-common late-night TV commercials that inevitably open with “In the event you or a cherished one…”?
We are able to solely guess that, for one cause or one other, they didn’t suppose that they personally had the grounds for a lawsuit because of the circumstances of their damage.
Additionally of be aware, greater than 14% of individuals wouldn’t sue as a result of they’re “not that kind of individual.”
What kind of individual, precisely? We’re unsure. The kind of individual whose bones are unbreakable? The kind of one that can miss months or years of labor on account of an damage and it’ll by no means have an effect on their funds? All we all know is, we’d love to listen to the secrets and techniques to being “that kind of individual.”
The Most In style Motivations to Sue
At finest, lawsuits are motivated by an actual have to make complete the sufferer of another person’s negligence. At worst, they’re motivated by, nicely, a few of the following not-so-honorable objectives.
Console, Richard P., Console and Associates, P.C. “2020 Public Notion of Attorneys, Insurance coverage Corporations & Lawsuits.” Powered by Survey Monkey.
69.92% of respondents mentioned, “If I had been so injured that I felt I had no alternative.”
18.33% of respondents mentioned, “I really feel prefer it’s the proper factor to do.”
7.42% of respondents mentioned, “I need cash.”
2.73% of respondents mentioned, “I’m pissed off and wish revenge.”
1.60% of respondents mentioned, “Screw insurance coverage corporations.”
The excellent news, first: virtually 70% of respondents mentioned they’d solely be motivated to sue somebody if their accidents had been so critical that that they had no different viable alternative.
The following largest share of members mentioned they’d sue for some notion of justice – as a result of holding the individuals who precipitated the accident accountable could be “the proper factor to do.” Though they didn’t come out and say it, this sense of an ethical cause for suing somebody usually speaks to stopping future negligence from occurring – and sparing potential victims from having to share this ache.
However for the remaining 11% of survey takers – wow. We actually didn’t see this coming.
We put tongue-in-cheek solutions like “I need cash,” “I’m pissed off and wish revenge,” and “Screw insurance coverage corporations” on the record – and, collectively, 125 folks truly selected them. They’re all fairly humorous, however we certain hope these solutions aren’t actually what our respondents had been pondering.
You may suppose that attorneys encourage everybody to sue whenever and for each attainable cause, however in actual fact, legal professionals can’t stand actually frivolous lawsuits. They clog up the authorized system and make professional claims take longer.
Which Ethical Compromises Folks Would Make for a Payout
Positive, $100,000 is some huge cash. However is it price mendacity, dishonest, and maybe even placing your self and others in hurt’s manner?
Console, Richard P., Console and Associates, P.C. “2020 Public Notion of Attorneys, Insurance coverage Corporations & Lawsuits.” Powered by Survey Monkey.
11.65% of respondents mentioned they’d “exaggerate accidents from an accident.”
5.83% of respondents mentioned they’d “faux an damage.”
3.95% of respondents mentioned they’d “faux an accident.”
2.91% of respondents mentioned they’d “get in an accident on objective.”
82.33% of respondents mentioned, “None, I’m a morally superior individual.”
On this hypothetical query, we requested members which (if any) unethical conduct they’d be prepared to do for a lawsuit payout of $100,000. We additionally reminded respondents that their solutions had been nameless.
Amongst respondents who admitted they’d commit some type of fraud, given the possibility, most would merely exaggerate the severity of an damage they actually suffered. Nothing too stunning there. What shocked us extra was the extent of dedication a few of these survey members had.
For the needs of a lawsuit, faking an damage isn’t all that straightforward to do, however 62 respondents would give it a strive. One other 42 folks mentioned they’d faux an accident utterly – how precisely, we’re unsure (and don’t actually need to know).
What most shocked us was that 31 folks mentioned they’d get into an accident on objective only for the payout. That’s an enormous threat to take not simply financially – what if the opposite driver isn’t discovered at fault or has no insurance coverage? – but in addition with your individual well being and the security of others on the highway.
Luckily, the solutions weren’t all so demoralizing. A whopping 82 % of respondents mentioned they’re too “morally superior” to contemplate any of those dishonest actions.
Ah, that restores our religion in humanity – or, a minimum of, tells us that individuals need to suppose their conduct is ethical.
Conclusion
Truthfully, we’re unsure what all of this information says about society. Is our perspective towards lawsuits higher or worse than most individuals suppose? You determine.
What we do know is that the general public opinion of lawsuits is difficult, assorted… and a lot extra attention-grabbing than you most likely anticipated.
If our research of lawsuit perceptions captured your curiosity, we’ve bought extra shocking survey information to share within the third and last a part of our weblog put up sequence, coming quickly. Verify again in just a few weeks for our exploration of survey information involving automobile accidents and insurance coverage.
© 2020 by Console and Associates. All rights reserved.Nationwide Legislation Evaluation, Quantity X, Quantity 183
