Is It Worth Suing Over?
8/04
In our litigious society, it seems like everyone is suing someone over something. For persons suffering serious personal injury or who have suffered substantial damages due to a breach of contract or business dispute, you may have no choice other than to commence a lawsuit to collect your damages. For minor disputes, you must seriously consider whether it is worth your time, energy and money before you go to Court.
The first thing you must consider is the costs of litigation. These costs include fees for attorneys, court filing fees, process servers, court stenographers, postage, photocopies and travel expenses. The second thing you must consider is your time. Litigation in the Courts of this State can go on for years. Time away from work for depositions and trials can be costly and turning down a settlement upfront can be costly even if you win more money years later. The third thing you must consider is the chances of collecting money from the person you are suing. Often times winning a case is easy; however, if the person you are suing does not have any money in the bank, you will be out of luck.
Finding an attorney to handle a civil lawsuit in the $20,000.00 to $75,000.00 range may be difficult because the attorney will spend the same amount of time on these smaller cases as he or she would on a case worth $500,000.00. In each case pleadings must be filed, time will be spent on discovery, motions and court appearances and more time will be spent on trial preparation and attending trial. If you are paying your attorney by the hour, your legal fees can exceed your recovery. Many attorneys will not take this type of case if it is going to result in an unsatisfied client. If you are paying on a contingency basis, the amount you ultimately collect will be reduced by one third.
Cases in the $5,000.00 to $10,000.00 range are often better filed in your local Small Claims Court. While the most you can sue for in Small Claims Court is $3,500.00, you can file your case without an attorney and you will save a substantial amount of time. The money you collect will be yours and in Small Claims Court you will not have the substantial filing fees, deposition transcript costs and other litigation expenses that you would have in the higher Courts.
Do not allow your emotions to cloud your judgment when you are considering taking legal action. Your emotions can cost you a lot of money. All reasonable settlement offers should be carefully weighed and considered. Alternate Dispute Resolution such as Arbitration and Mediation should also be considered as both are less costly than litigation. Only after you are convinced that you have a strong case with strong chances of collecting and you believe there is little chance of settlement, should you go ahead and file your lawsuit.