By Breck Dumas

Full article in Fox Business

The APCIA says the American household pays more than a $4,200 “tort tax” due to unnecessary and abusive litigation across the country that raises the costs of products and services like groceries and gas.

One is jury anchoring, where lawyers attempt to influence juries by throwing out astronomical numbers for awards. He asserted that when attorneys have billboards up advertising that they won their client $20 million for an auto accident, they are trying to affect the jury pool by putting out astronomical numbers that have no relation to the particular case involved, trying to shift the jury’s mindset.

Another legal abuse is phantom damages, where plaintiffs’ attorneys are able to only show juries how much a victim was billed for medical services, as opposed to the lower amount the health insurance company actually paid because of its contract with the hospital. 

The practice of plaintiffs’ attorneys bringing in outside investors to try and influence the litigation process through third party litigation funding (TPLF) has driven up the cost of litigation, too, amid growing concerns that foreign adversaries are using these avenues to invest in U.S. litigation against American companies.

 “You’ve had the justice system turned basically into a casino where these major investors are hoping to strike it rich on these suits and they get paid out the majority of the proceeds whenever they do,” he said.