Now that the winners of our thirteenth annual Wacky Warning Label Contest have been announced, we’re getting calls from reporters around the world.
They all ask the same thing: “Why do Americans have so many labels warning about things that are obvious?”
Well, the answer is that American courts are filled with frivolous lawsuits. Anyone who sells a product here can be sued over almost anything. Like when a guy who was playing basketball, caught his teeth in the net while dunking the ball, and sued the net makers. Believe it or not, he walked away with $50,000.
So now, we’re warned about almost everything.
When the reporters hear this, they ask if America has a loser pay system like other countries have. In that kind of system, lawyers have to pay the legal bills of those they sue if they lose, so frivolous lawsuits are not problem around the world that they are here.
I have to tell them no. And if you’d like to know how much our system costs you, even if you’ve never been sued, stay tuned for our next report, or go to our website: FoundationForFairCivilJustice.org.