834 days ago - Love ’em or loathe ’em, class-action lawyers wield enormous — and controversial — influence in business and politics. Critics charge that class- action lawyers often practice a kind of legal extortion, shaking down large and small businesses with threats of litigation and, more often than not, winning generous settlements without even going to trial. According to critics, plaintiffs suing for damages often receive precious little, but their lawyers walk away with multimillion dollar payouts. Companies are put under severe stress, often cutting jobs or even going bankrupt.
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- If mass torts are the all-out war of class-action lawsuits, their kissing cousins are traditional class-action lawsuits and related securities suits. The economic impact of tort litigation is enormous. According to a study released Tuesday by the Pacific Research Institute, a conservative think tank, the total costs of litigation on the American economy, including the dampening of innovation and growth, now exceeds $865 billion per year.
