Lawsuit abuse is burdening the city of Detroit and diverting funds from investments that help and improve the city. The personal injury system is being exploited by trial lawyers who take advantage of victims to get a cut of their settlement, all while possibly leaving them in more pain and debt than when they found them.

These lawsuits don’t just hurt the victims: they hurt the taxpayers and families that live in Michigan. According to a new piece by Bob Dorigo Jones in Crain’s Detroit Business:

“Between 2017 and 2022, the City of Detroit paid out a staggering $88.9 million to settle 1,528 lawsuits. That’s nearly $90 million of taxpayer money — money that could have been invested in schools, infrastructure, or public safety—redirected instead to resolve legal claims, many of which stem from misconduct, negligence, or systemic dysfunction.

In 2022 alone, Detroit paid $32 million in settlements, marking a five-year high. These aren’t abstract figures on a spreadsheet — they are real dollars draining a city that’s still navigating the long shadow of its 2013 bankruptcy.”

According to the Detroit Free Press, programs that were allocated less than $30 million in 2022 include:

• $2.4 million for Basement Back-up Protection, a program to prevent residential basement flooding.
• $7 million for Lee Plaza restoration to increase affordable housing for senior citizens.
• $15 million for Community Health Corps expansion of social services for Detroiters.

In fact, you could add up all of these programs and it would still cost less than what the city spent on lawsuit settlements in 2022. Programs that would have a real impact on the hardworking and taxpaying citizens. 

It’s clear something needs to be done. A more transparent legal system is needed, one that allows just and fair compensation for victims in court while also ensuring taxpayers know where their tax dollars are going. Jones concludes, “if Detroit wants to reclaim its future, it must first confront the root symptoms of these costs and not compound its past mistakes”. Detroit can’t afford to keep paying these burdens.