Posted By:
Todd (nolemmings)With all due respect, I don't think you get it. Lawyers already think "long and hard" about taking cases, borderline or otherwise. They know they could lose, and have spent hundreds of hours over the span of a year or more, for absolutely no fee. That asessment is made every day by personal injury lawyers.
And don't fool yourself for a minute into thinking that defense attorneys (paid by the hour) are incapable or unwilling to drag a case along with various costly and delay oriented tactics, hoping to beat down the usual wage-earner Plaintiff or his lawyer into either going away or at least taking far less than what a case is truly worth if it made it to a jury.
Now, if I had to tell a client, in the opening interview, that not only could they lose the case and recover nothing, but that they could be on the hook for tens of thousands (or more) in the other side's fees, think how many cases would never be filed. Before you jump up and conclude that this would be a great result-- no more lawsuits, think about its natural effect on consumer safety issues and John Q. Public.