It’s no surprise that in today’s society civil litigation has become an ever-increasing threat to business owners and affluent individuals. Many owners don’t realize it is possible to have a legal judgment assessed against them for an event they did not participate in or of which they were unaware.
According to the National Center for State Courts, nearly 20 million lawsuits are filed every year in the U.S. Many of these lawsuits are regarded as “frivolous,” meaning they have little merit based on facts. Frivolous lawsuits typically have the intent to intimidate defendants and seek cash settlements instead of a trial. Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a proponent of lawsuit abuse reform and a sponsor of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2011 that addresses meritless litigation, says the annual direct cost of U.S. tort litigation exceeds $250 billion.