Myth #4: Okay, Maybe Not All Personal Injury Lawsuits Are Frivolous, But We Should At Least Be Concerned By The Number, Size, and Scope Of Legal Actions
The Actual Reality:
No! There definitely is a problem, but it is not a problem of too many lawsuits. It is a problem of too many personal injuries! There are too many personal injuries as a result of giant corporations placing a greater value on profits and productivity at the expense of safety and human life.
We need to find better and more effective ways of reducing the number, size, and scope of injuries from medical malpractice, automobile accidents, commercial truck wrecks, motorcycle crashes, industrial and work place injuries and other mishaps, etc., because that is the real constraint on our ability to have a safer and more cost efficient society.
If a giant automobile manufacturer puts a product in the stream of commerce it knows to be defective, that makes our society more unsafe and increases the costs of treating injuries, as well as increases the burden on our government to take care of those that can not take care of themselves. If a giant trucking company allows someone to drive a rig that has a record of unsafe driving practices just to keep an empty tractor from staying on the yard in order to increase profits and productivity, that reckless behavior increases the risk of injury, medical costs and unsafe roads. If a giant automobile insurance company refuses to accept responsibility for a collision caused by a customer that paid the premiums for the automobile insurance and demands you have your own health insurance company and you absorb the costs of your medical treatment, that irresponsible behavior drives up the costs of our premiums and health care.
The premise of any lawsuit is to correct an injustice. We grew up in households where our parents taught us to accept responsibility for our mistakes and to make efforts to right a wrong. If Goliath abided by the teachings of most parents, lawyers would not have to force Goliath to right his wrongs.
Aaron Gartlan is a graduate of Troy University and the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law who focuses his practice exclusively on representing those injured by the wrongdoing of others. He is member of the National Trial Lawyers Association’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In addition to his legal practice, Aaron teaches Business Law as an adjunct instructor at Troy University’s Sorrell College of Business and serves as a field artillery sergeant in the Alabama National Guard.
