Civil vs. Criminal

1. Civil vs. Criminal

2. Differences between Civil & Criminal

3. Civil vs. Criminal Cases

4. Federal Courts • Handled over 250,000 civil cases • 4,206 (1.7%) decided through trial process • 2,674 jury trial • 1,532 bench trial • 40% of cases that went to jury trial involved civil rights violations

5. Civil Cases • Offenses against individuals (not society) • Also called TORTS • Liability • Negligence • Defamation • Slander – spoken • Libel – printed • Invasion of Privacy • Fraud • Contract Violation • Some Torts could also be considered Criminal • Assault (threat) • Battery (actual contact)

6. Civil Cases • An injunction (court order) may be issued to prevent a tort - preventative • The usual remedy for a tort is damages • Lawyers handle civil lawsuits for a percentage of the recovery (25% if settled before trial, 33% if trial, 40% if appeal)

7. Negligence • Most common tort • 4 Requirements to prove • Duty • Was there a law/rule in place • Reasonable-person standard • Breach of Duty • Did you break the law/rule • Cause • Leading (Cause in Fact) • Foreseeable (Proximate Cause) • Injury

8. Negligence Damages • Compensatory • intended to compensate the plaintiff for actual losses • Example: lost wages, medical bills, pain & suffering, etc. • Punitive • intended to punish the defendant • Example: $1.35M coffee revenues/day

9. Negligence Defenses • Contributory Negligence • If the plaintiff’s own negligence contributed to the harm suffered, the plaintiff cannot collect anything from the defendant • Comparative Negligence • Plaintiff’s recovery from the defendant is reduced by the percentage that the plaintiff’s own negligence contributed to the injury • Called Proportionate Responsibility in Texas • In Texas, if the plaintiff is found to be over 50% responsible for his own injuries, then he is barred from recovering any damages.

10. Liebeck v. McDonald’s • Stella Liebeck, 79, spilled hot coffee on herself • 3rd degree burns on 6% of her body, lesser burns on 16% • In hospital 8 days, lost 23 pounds • Liebeck approached McDonald’s and asked to be reimbursed $20,000; McDonald’s offered $800 • Liebeck hired an attorney who offered to settle out of court for $90,000; McD’s refused

11. Liebeck v. McDonald’s • Case went to court • McD’s serves coffee at 170 degrees (normally 140◦) • At that temperature, would take 2-7 seconds to cause 3rd degree burns • In 10 year period, McDonald’s received 700 reports of scalding incidents & settled for more than $500,000

12. Liebeck v. McDonald’s • Verdict • Jury found McDonald’s guilty of Comparative Negligence (80% responsible) • Compensatory Damages • $200,000 (medical bills, lost wages, etc.) • Reduced by 20% to $160,000 • Punitive Damages • $2.7 Million (based on 1-2 days coffee revenue of $1.35M) • Judge reduced to $640,000 • Settled for undisclosed amount of <$600,000

13. 2010 Stella Awards - #7 • Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.

14. 2010 Stella Awards - #6 • Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California , won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.

15. 2010 Stella Awards - #5 • Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish.

16. 2010 Stella Awards - #4 • Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.

17. 2010 Stella Awards - #3 • Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.

18. 2010 Stella Awards - #2 • Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware , sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms.Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000 ...... oh, yeah, plus dental expenses.

19. 2010 Stella Awards - #1 • Mrs. MervGrazinski, of Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , who purchased new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her -- are you sitting down? --- $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.

20. Problems Caused by Frivolous Lawsuits • Drives up the price of malpractice, auto, and other insurance • Forces innocent defendants to spend money for legal defense and cheap settlements • Drives up the price of products and services • Rewards undeserving lawyers and plaintiffs • Consumes court resources and delays processing of legitimate cases • Leads to poor patient care (in the case of medical liability)

21. Lawsuit Abuse • 73% of voters say lawyers benefit the most from lawsuits; only 4% say victims do.Election night poll of 800 voters conducted on November 4, 2008 by Public Opinion Strategies • 83% of voters say the number of frivolous lawsuits is a serious problem.Election night poll of 800 voters conducted on November 4, 2008 by Public Opinion Strategies

22. Lawsuit Abuse • Three-quarters of all small business owners in America are concerned they might be the target of a frivolous or unfair lawsuit. Of those who are most concerned, six in ten say the fear of lawsuits makes them feel more constrained in making business decisions generally, and 54 percent say lawsuits or the threat of lawsuits forced them to make decisions they otherwise would not have made.Small Businesses: How the Threat of Lawsuits Impacts Their Operations • Small businesses paid $105.4 billion in tort liability costs in 2008.Tort Liability Costs for Small Business

23. Lawsuit Abuse • Small businesses are responsible for 64 percent of all new jobs created in the U.S economy (SBA Office of Advocacy Frequently Asked Questions). More jobs, higher wages, and better benefits could be provided if the average small business earning $1 million in revenue didn’t have to spend $20,000 each year on an out of control lawsuit system.Tort Liability Costs for Small Business • The growth in U.S. tort costs are projected to increase by three percent in 2009.2009 Update on U.S. Tort Cost Trends

24. Lawsuit Abuse • America’s civil justice system is the world’s most expensive, with a direct cost in 2008 of $254.7 billion, or 1.79 percent of the U.S. GDP.2009 Update on U.S. Tort Cost Trends • Tort costs were $838 per U.S. citizen in 2008, meaning a family of four paid a “litigation tax” of $3,352 for the U.S. civil justice system, a cost driven up due to increased costs from lawsuits and other liability expenses that force businesses to raise the price of products and services. 2009 Update on U.S. Tort Cost Trends

25. Lawsuit Abuse • The cost of the U.S. tort liability system as a percentage of GDP is more than double the average cost of any other industrialized nation.Who Pays for Tort Liability Claims? An Economic Analysis of the U.S. Tort Liability System

26. Tort Reform