What Are Frivolous Lawsuits?
In the United States in recent years there has been an explosion in the number of civil lawsuits that have been filed. In addition to the usual breach of contract and other suits, there has been a huge increase in the number of personal injury suits that have been filed. This increase has lead many to name the majority of suits “frivolous.” Frivolous lawsuits, or frivolous litigation, as a term used in colloquial and political terms in the United States, are lawsuits that are based on a somewhat absurd theory or involve claims for damages that greatly exceed what one would think is possible from reading a brief summary of the case. Awards for medical malpractice lawsuits are sometimes mocked as being frivolous in that they are seen by the common public as being “excessive.” The frivolous lawsuits of the world, even if they aren’t really frivolous, are one of the greatest arguments that proponents of tort reform have in their arsenal. Unfortunately, many of the supposedly “frivolous” la
