Avoid Ruinous Business Litigation

The United States has the highest number of lawsuits in the world with 94% of the world's lawsuits are filed here. It has been estimated that the legal system now costs Americans an estimated $ 300 + billion a year.

With the explosive number of regulations affecting business, it is no wonder that we have so many lawsuits. We have too much legislation, too many lawyers, too much cost of legal assistance for the very lawsuits, an unchecked activist judiciary, and an obsessively controversial population enthralled with the opponent struggle.

The international law firm Fulbright & Gasworks LLP recently released its Annual Litigation Trends Survey. The program includes:

• 26% of all businesses were hit with at least one trial with more than 20 million dollars on the issue;

• 30% of large enterprises are facing more than 50 lawsuits last year;

• Several companies expect to increase litigation trends;

• Small businesses reported nine cases with an average dispute totaling approximately $ 178,000;

• Half the companies surveyed had at least one class action pending;

• The largest increase in cases relating to personnel issues like wage and hour claims, firings and layoffs, discrimination and privacy, and

• Two thirds of companies say that new federal rules on e-discovery has exacerbated the problem.

All are involved in litigation knows that the time and cost of litigation in a dispute constitutes a heavy burden. Attorneys' fees and other indirect costs negatively affect your business and your earnings. Equally important, these costs, discovery costs, damage rates, and related issues to divert you and your management team from more important strategic and tactical activities. In many cases, companies will feel the need to "earn" their losses by cutting operating expenses, acquisition of new customers or expand their services to existing customers, as well as additional recruitment. All of this is exponentially worse when you are personally mentioned in the suit, which happens more frequently than ever.

When involved in litigation, the legal costs spiral beyond your control. Most law firms charge by the hour, which makes these charges open and difficult to predict or budget. Not only are the direct per hour is very expensive, but the legal meter seems to keep running for longer periods, all contribute to the fees and costs. And worse, after the lawyers were paid, actual results in many cases are far below expectations. Even if you win the case, the cost and aggravation make it look like you have actually lost a lawsuit. And with the threat of never ending costs and fees, punitive damages and run away juries, most parties simple "solve" just to end the pain.

The question for you as an executive what steps you must take to avoid being sued to protect your company from claims by creditors, suppliers, employees, customers, government agencies or other third parties. In a stressed economy, only you can not afford the financial losses and the diversion that comes from lengthy lawsuits where the impact can be devastating and destroy years of business success.

A trial audit and review conducted by an experienced lawyer would help. Someone to review your policies, procedures, contracts and insurance limits in the areas of general tort, contract claims, creditor exposure, officer and director liability, environmental, compliance, regulatory, intellectual property, employment liability, and general economic risks would be extremely beneficial.