Unless they represent well-heeled corporations or extremely wealthy individuals, plaintiffs’ lawyers work on a contingent basis. Losing plaintiffs’ lawyers often do not get paid for their work. As a result, the elite argue, plaintiffs are encouraged to file frivolous lawsuits, costing defendants hundreds of thousands of dollars.īut the rule cuts both ways. Aside from court costs, an unsuccessful plaintiff does not have to pay the winning side’s legal fees. The ruling class wants to limit its exposure to juries and plaintiffs’ lawyers because the United States, for the most part, does not have a “loser pays” rule. All of these practices either prevent civil cases from being filed in the first place or encourage plaintiffs to settle for far less than their cases are worth. This so-called reform functionally transfers wealth from legitimately injured people to multinational corporations and insurance companies by limiting damages, barring class actions, and requiring mandatory pre-suit arbitration. They claim that litigation functions like a lottery, where justice is meted out randomly and without justification, where robbers sue their victims for injuries, aunts sue nephews for hugging them too forcefully, and some lucky woman made millions just because she spilled McDonald’s coffee on herself.īy amplifying and distorting stories like these, groups like the Chamber of Commerce and the American Legislative Exchange Council have successfully pushed for bogus tort reform in legislatures, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court. The mechanics of civil suits often confuse non-lawyers, a fact that industry groups have capitalized on to spread misinformation about the process. Peter Thiel’s ability to bankroll the Bollea suit illustrates by counterexample how the system is stacked against those who don’t have vast resources to pay teams of lawyers.
Gawker’s demise is rooted in the contradictions of the American legal system, where attorneys - who, like everyone else, want to get paid - are responsible for establishing citizens’ and corporations’ rights and responsibilities in court. Univision acquired six of Gawker’s sister-sites and permanently shuttered the flagship blog. The $140 million judgment, owed to plaintiff Terry Bollea (better known as Hulk Hogan), forced Gawker Media to hold a bankruptcy auction. That’s the lesson Peter Thiel, a revanchist fanatic, taught us all when he used his personal wealth to finance the proxy war that obliterated Gawker. NH Republican flips endorsement from Trump to DeSantis, citing criticism of Fox. īiden ‘misunderestimated’ Kevin McCarthy, and it led to a major. Ketanji Brown Jackson issues solo dissent in ruling against Teamsters strikeįormer Trump lawyer: Reported audio ‘eviscerates’ defense in documents. Political winners and losers from the debt ceiling drama McCarthy impresses Senate GOP with surprise wins in debt ceiling battleĭeSantis shouts down heckler at South Carolina rally īiden falls on stage during Air Force graduation ceremony US military has been observing ‘metallic orbs’ making extraordinary. New evidence in Trump case bolsters two sets of charges This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The website’s bankruptcy attorney, Gregg Galardi of law firm Ropes & Gray LLP, previously attempted to block Thiel from purchasing the site, arguing that Thiel would be an “improper buyer” due to the potential for Thiel to be the target of lawsuits over his funding of Hogan’s case. In 2007, the website published an article reporting Thiel’s status as a gay man, outing the businessman and sparking a now decadelong feud. Thiel did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters over why he desired to purchase Gawker, but one possible reason could be multiple articles about Thiel’s personal life that remain on the dormant website. The suit led Gawker to cease operations in 2016. The company is now selling off the domain name and other remaining assets. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, won a $140 million judgement and later a $31 million settlement over the publishing of a sex tape excerpt. The website is now only worth a few million dollars, according to Reuters. People familiar with Thiel’s offer told the news service only that Thiel had made a bid, but could not confirm the value.
Billionaire PayPal co-founder and informal Trump adviser Peter Thiel has submitted an offer to buy after funding Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit to shutter the company, Reuters reported Thursday.
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