Why is the legal system so expensive?
Specifically in the USA, but feel free to share your status quo. We live in the internet age, doesn't that cut overhead with filing and make things cheaper?
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Specifically in the USA, but feel free to share your status quo. We live in the internet age, doesn't that cut overhead with filing and make things cheaper?
Exactly. If you can’t afford an expensive lawyer, the US wants you to lose.
Actually, it’s not only that they want you to lose. It wants the entire system to be so expensive that you can’t even afford to go to court and lose. You have to settle, and don’t have a lot of power determining the terms.
Your best bet as a member of the 95% is a class action suit. The problem is that "enterprising" members of the 1% will take most of the winnings from your class action suit for representing you against other members of the 1%. No matter what, even if you win as a poor person in the American legal system, you've still lost
I have personal experience in this. once had a small business, where a 1%er approached me with the biggest order I'd ever received. before I started we had to negotiate the price, and sign a contract. they agreed on $60k as the price of their order. then they added to the order, despite me telling them it was inadvisable. so they eventually racked up closer to $100k of services. I wasn't silly, I got 20k upfront so I actually had enough money to make this order possible.
then, after months of work, I'm about to finish, so I hand them the final bill, which was about $80k. they said no. I bent over backwards trying to find a reasonable price, offered as much as a 70% discount if they would just pay and fuck off. nope. they offered 10k. Went to a bunch of lawyers with our signed contract that had the price negotiated and asked what my options were.
you know what every single one of them said?
"Too rich to sue."
"sure, you could sue, they would extend the suit out for probably a decade, and then even after all the heartache, headache, and legal bills, even if I won they still wouldn't pay. because they're rich enough to not have anything in their name. it's all in their wives names, some other company."
"you cannot win."
it's a group of rich, entitled, evil people that our society is catered to providing for, and the other 99% are the ones subsidizing their lives.
The term "banana republic" was invented for latin american countries, where companies like Chiqita had a ridiculous amount of political power, because they were the sole driving force behind the entire country's economy. These companies (often banana, but could be any resource) had so much power that they pocketed and corrupted the entire system. They removed farmers, forests, civilians, politicians, competition, villages, anything that stood in their way, they just moved it out of their way, the easy way or the easier way. They could do whatever they wanted, because they pretty much were the government. (Fun fact: This led to massive monocultures and the virtual extinction of the Gros Michel banana)
It originaly applied to latin american countries, but it can apply anywere. It also doesn't have to be one particular company who controls the government, it can be a bunch of them.
You forgot the part where those companies where backed up by United Fruit, keeping South America under the rule of the USA. Good old US freedom, I guess.
Chiquita == United Fruit Co.
Thanks, I didn't know that
That's revolting, and would make me lose faith in humanity. What would you do differently today, if you were offered a similar order? Other than refusing, that is.
Not that guy but I'd probably ask for everything upfront.
This story sounds very familiar. Was it for a certain casino owned by a certain well known individual?
no, but surprise, surprise, this one was a BIG big fan of that certain well known individual.
Of course if the lawyers lose they don't make a single cent and have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars.