We need judges and juries. People whose critical thinking skills are not under anesthesia. We need to trust these people to sort through the good cases from the bad ones. The system works fine with smart people who can see through bullshit.
Today I was pleasantly reminded that even weak judges can see through bullshit, as my colleague won a case that has dragged on for far too long; after five weeks of trial (it should have taken only one) the plaintiff rested and the judge granted my colleague’s nonsuit motion because this was the Seinfeld Trial — a lot of talk about nothing. If the judge had been stronger, it wouldn’t have taken this long to get to this point. But we did get there.
Then I see all these ads floating around the internet saying that “Lawsuit Abuse Is Real,” with the picture of those poor people who got sued by that OCD former administrative law judge on a poorly-written law in D.C. for the missing pair of pants. So sure, lawsuit abuse happens. Our client shouldn’t have been sued in that case my colleague just won. But it would be worse if people couldn’t file lawsuits. The guardians against lawsuit abuse ought not to be legislators — they are judges and juries.
