“If you have 1,000 regulations, you destroy all respect of law,” said Winston Churchill once.
In today’s America, the reality eerily echoes what Mr. Churchill said half a century ago.
The Economist recently published the story, “Law v Common Sense,”+ suggesting that America is being micro-managed by laws and regulations as lawmakers try to come up with rules to cope with every conceivable outcome of life. At the same time, individual judgment is being stifled.
The newspaper gave an illuminating example: a judge sued his dry cleaner for $54 million for allegedly losing his trousers. While the suit was tossed out by the court (after two years of battle), the business owners were saddled with a $100,000 legal bill. They closed the shop and considered moving back to South Korea.
So much for their American Dream. An over-legalistic society is squeezing the joys out of life, the story concluded, and something must be done.
Fortunately, I believe Canadians are in a better position than their American counterparts.
In Canada, we have the “cost-shifting” system, where the losing party is responsible for part of the winning party’s cost. Hence, if the “pants suit” were in Canada, the defendants would end up with a legal bill for “only” $30,000 if they were awarded with substantial indemnity in cost, $60,000 with partial indemnity in cost.
As a practising lawyer, I’ve utilized the cost-shifting system to fend off vexatious claims, or at least obtained reasonable settlements for my clients several times. I’ve also refused to take on frivolous cases from potential clients on several occasions.
May justice prevail.
+”Law v Common Sense” The Economist 390:8614 (January 15, 2008) 38, online: economist.com <http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12932224>
