Research, Surveys and Examples of Lawsuit Abuse
Harris Poll Reveals Growing Lawsuit Problem in Michigan
After M-LAW disbanded in 2013, Michigan’s legal liability system took a turn for the worse. According to a Harris Poll conducted for the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform in 2019, Michigan dropped to 33rd in the nation with regards to a fair and reasonable legal system. Prior to that, Michigan had been ranked in the top half of all the states.
Our state’s legal liability system is crucial to the future of our state, and that’s why our consumer watchdog group, Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, is coming back. It’s time to eliminate the burden excessive litigation is placing on job providers, families and communities, and this time, we’re going by MiLAW for short (pronounced MyLaw), to emphasize the personal stake we all have in this issue.
Frivolous lawsuits will cost Michigan jobs
Michigan's lawsuit climate is becoming more volatile and unpredictable, and as that happens, it becomes less attractive to job providers who are deciding where to locate their business.
Of those who participated in the Harris Poll survey, 89% said that a state's litigation climate is likely to impact important business decisions at their companies.
And if plaintiffs’ lawyers get their wishes, Michigan could be safe haven for profiteering plaintiffs’ lawyers if the candidates they back regain a majority on the Michigan Supreme Court in the 2020 election.
Out-of-State Plantiffs Attorneys Targeting Michigan
Around the country, plaintiffs’ law firms are working to persuade state Attorneys General to sue corporate entities and in turn hire them to try the cases. Per The New York Times, the partnership is part of a flourishing industry that pairs plaintiffs’ lawyers with state attorneys general to sue companies, and it has created “big paydays” for plantiffs’ lawyers.
One of the past winners of the contest was found on a fishing lure produced in Michigan by an amazing family business that was founded in 1912. Today, they sell millions of lures around the world, but nowhere is the litigation problem as bad as it is here in the United States. As a result, the label on this fishing lure actually says: “Warning, harmful if swallowed.”
High-Profile Personal Injury Lawyer Found Guilty of “Professional Misconduct” Against Respected Charity
In addition to the headline-making actions of personal injury lawyers like those involved in big lawsuits like the Flint case, other personal injury lawyers are misusing the legal system to enrich themselves…often with very little or no coverage by the media.
In early 2020, Pulitizer-prize winning investigative reporter M.L. Elrick left his job with a Detroit TV station after it declined to air his report revealing the unethical activities of one of Michigan’s highest profile personal injury lawyers and major advertisers.
Lee Steinberg had deceived the Salvation Army, one of Michigan’s most respected charities that helps thousands of our less fortunate citizens, in an effort to obtain information that could be used to force the charity into a financial settlement. Elrick’s report focused on how the Michigan Attorney Disciplinary Board eventually reprimanded and fined Steinberg for professional misconduct, but very few people in Michigan have heard this story.