on frivolous lawsuits

from the American Progress Report, Oct. 7

ECONOMY –
MORE "FRIVOLOUS LAWSUITS" FILED BY BUSINESSES THAN AGAINST THEM:

Yesterday, President Bush said "frivolous lawsuits" and "trial lawyers" were a "threat to our economy" because they weigh down American businesses. A new report by Public Citizen says otherwise. In fact, "American businesses file four times as many lawsuits as do individuals represented by trial attorneys, and they are penalized by judges much more often for pursuing frivolous litigation." A survey in parts of four different states found that in 2001, businesses were 3.3 to 5.8 times more likely to file lawsuits than were individuals. The findings come as "businesses and politicians are campaigning to limit citizens' rights to sue over everything from medical malpractice damages to defective products. By way of comparison, the number of American consumers (281 million) outnumbers the number of businesses in America (7 million) by 40 times."