Frivolous Defense
It is, indeed, time for us to be turning our attention as a nation to eliminating rampant abuse of the legal system. There are people out there who are draining tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars a year out of the economy into non-productive lawyer's fees. Often these lawyers are fighting to protect their client's from the consequence of the client's own actions. I'm not talking about the frivolous filing of lawsuits, I'm talking about the frivolous defense of them. Due to an appalling web of arcane rules and regulations, corporations that are involved in truly nefarious deeds are able to fight a war of attrition against those who would challenge their hegemony. Classic examples of this form of lawsuit abuse include Microsoft's antitrust defense, Exxon's battle over the Valdez disaster, and Union Carbide's efforts to avoid taking responsibility for Bhopal. Similar battles are fought all across America every single day. Companies weaseling out of the responsibility for the radioactive waste they dumped into a municipal dump. Corporate polluters challenging laws that prevent them from substantially raising the leukemia risk in the communities downstream of them.
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