Statistics from the Baltimore City Law Department show that residents and others filed 330 lawsuits against the city from Jan. 1, 2005, to June 30, for damages totaling $312,095,299.
Fortunately for Baltimore, plaintiffs did not do so well. The city won 218 of the 330 cases.
And as of June 30, the city paid $415,513 ? 0.13 percent of the overall requested compensation in the cases ? including the expenses of defending the lawsuits. The city employs 11 full-time attorneys at an average salary of $65,000 and works with eight others in private practice on a part-time basis to manage the caseload.
Claims paid show that many of the cases do not have serious merit ? or at least not as much as each plaintiff thought.
Some cases are absolutely ridiculous.
One enlightened Baltimore resident, aftera night of drinking, decided to throw a heavy bag of garbage into a city trash truck. He fell into the back of the truck, injuring his arm in the trash compactor.
Most people would be humiliated. Not this guy. He sued the city for $100,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages.
A jury acquitted the city of any wrongdoing.
What the city should have done is sued him for recklessly abusing the legal system.
What kind of lawyer could in good conscience accept his case? What judge could let it proceed beyond a preliminary hearing?
And what made this irresponsible resident think he had any right to waste “we the people?s” tax dollars in court?
Walter Olson, a Manhattan Institute scholar who chronicles abuses of the legal system at Overlawyered.com, said, “It?s practically legal malpractice not to ask for much more than you are going to get.” Fortunately, the city caps awards for lawsuits at $200,000, save for intentional bad acts by city employees.
That, combined with a smaller population and sensible juries probably saves Baltimore from New York City?s fate.
Olson found that New York City, which does not have a cap on awards, pays out more than $500 million each year to settle lawsuits against the city.
Jurors who acquitted Baltimore in the trash-dumping case showed good sense. But they should not have had to hear the case in the first place.
To curtail frivolous lawsuits, plaintiffs who file them in the city and lose ought to pay the legal fees for the city.
That would make potential plaintiffs ? and their lawyers ? think twice before jumping into court. It would also help to direct city resources where they are most needed, like our schools.
