A Beginner's Guide to the Litigation Maze

The United States, according to a common perception, is overrun by litigation and lawyers and is plagued by a civil liability system in danger of spinning out of control. But some of the most jarring claims — like the speculation that we have 70 percent of the world's lawyers — turn out, on examination, to be fiction. Careful analysis of case filing patterns suggests a moderate, not feverish, use of the legal system in response to pressing problems. Debates about the present civil liability system would do well to consider actual litigation trends rather than popular speculations, and the benefits of the present system as well as its costs.