How my life was changed when I began caring about the people I did not hire

Re:How my life was changed when I began caring about the peo... by kstenerud on Thursday January 08, 2015 @08:24PM (#8860196)

A "loser pays" system sounds great on the surface, but is fraught with unintended consequences:

- A complainant who loses on a technicality or procedural failure, and is now on the hook for hundreds of thousands in legal fees.

- A big company that bullies the complainant with legal shenanegans until the complainant is worn out, drops the case, and is now on the hook for hundreds of thousands in legal fees.

Just the fact that, after your own expensive legal fees, you'll be saddled with the big company's (much bigger) fees as well, would be enough to deter most people from suing, even if they're in the right. It would become a new tool for bullying the poor.

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Re:How my life was changed when I began caring about the peo... by WalterBright on Thursday January 08, 2015 @08:37PM (#8860238)

The loser's max liability will be what he paid his own lawyers, not what the other party paid theirs. Thus, you cannot spend your opponent into oblivion.

A better formula for what loser pays would be:

    min(what you paid your lawyers, what the other side paid their lawyers)

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Re:How my life was changed when I began caring about the peo... by joedavison on Thursday January 08, 2015 @09:53PM (#8860478)

And what about pro se litigants?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_se_legal_representation_in...

For individuals, representing oneself pro se is extremely common.

Corporations must have an attorney, of course.

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Re:How my life was changed when I began caring about the peo... by WalterBright on Friday January 09, 2015 @12:30AM (#8860912)

Their legal liability would then be $0. It wouldn't be worse than it is now.

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