As a lawyer, I dread this kind of news story. A disappointed graduate who doesn’t have a job sues her college for tuition payments, and it is covered as another weird news story, just like the stories about women who live with 125 cats or twins separated at birth who find each other after living for 70 years at locations five miles apart. Readers chuckle, shake their heads, and wonder what the world is coming to.
I think these kinds of lawsuits, and news stories thaty they produce, have a pernicious effect. No context is ever given that might make the lawsuit seem reasonable — suppose, for example, that in this case the college in question for some reason gave certain students a written money-back guarantee? — and the ultimate dismissal of frivolous lawsuits is never reported. The stories create the impression of a legal system out of control, where anyone can sue anyone or anything else whenever they are disappointed in the outcome of their job, their education, or anything else and they may potentially receive some kind of windfall recovery. I think this impression has helped to increase the number of lawsuits filed in our federal and state courts, many of which are filed by pro se plaintiffs who assert the most far-fetched and legally untenable claims imaginable.
There are significant societal costs to this unfortunate reality. The courts exist as a dignified societal mechanism for resolving important cases and controversies. Stories which suggest that lawsuits are silly or that court proceedings are ridiculous cheapen the essential role of litigation as a peaceful and fair dispute resolution process that produces results that all parties accept, even if grudgingly, as final. And bogus lawsuits brought by unrepresented litigants clog the courts, impose wholly unnecessary costs on the parties who must defend even frivolous claims, and occupy the finite time of judges and court personnel. So, the next time you see a “funny” story about a lawsuit, don’t chuckle — such actions really are nothing to laugh about.
