In Praise of Litigation

Download or read book In Praise of Litigation written by Alexandra D. Lahav and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the grand scale of lawsuits, actually crazy or bogus lawsuits constitute a tiny minority ; in fact, most anecdotes turn out to be misrepresentations of what actually happened. In In Praise of Litigation, Lahav argues that critics are blinded to the many benefits of lawsuits. The majority of lawsuits promote equality before the law, transparency, and accountability. Our ability to go to court is a sign of our strength as a society and enables us to both participate in and reinforce the rule of law. In addition, joining lawsuits gives citizens direct access to governmental officials-judges-who can hear their arguments about issues central to our democracy, including the proper extent of police power and the ability of all people to vote. It is at least arguable that lawsuits have helped spur major social changes in arenas like race relations and marriage rights, as well as made products safer and forced wrongdoers to answer for their conduct.