Nuclear Lawsuits vs Biz Nuke Consumers Wallets

Letter to Romans: No joke. Lawsuits cost every American big bucks thanks to the plaintiffs’ bar’s abusive lawsuits vs key industries. Supremes’ October term presents a rare chance to reign in some of the worst offenders. But will the Justices have the guts to do so?

Horace Cooper’s Fox News op ed painted a grim picture, one that even the richest products liability lawyer would not argue with: “A new Marathon Strategies report found nearly 200 ‘nuclear verdicts’ of $10 million or more against corporate defendants in 2025, totaling more than $25.6 billion – a 40.7% increase from the year before. More broadly, US tort costs reached $529 billion in 2022, or about 2.1% of GDP and are projected to approach $1 trillion by 2030 if recent trends continue. Economic analyses go as high as $6,000 to the average household’s annual expenses.” Of course, personal injury lawyers & the anti-business left will argue, “The wealthy & irresponsible companies had it coming.” Yet, the truth is, many of these class actions border on the frivolous. And the punch line? “The joke is on the consumer.” That includes the so-called class beneficiaries because the businesses simply pass the judgements and the resulting higher insurance premiums on to THEM. So, Cooper opines, these stats “makes lawsuit abuse an affordability as well as legal one.

Enter US Supreme Court. Please. The arguably abusive cases on the Court’s upcoming docket, notes Cooper, include Suncor Energy v Boulder County. It “could determine whether federal law precludes local climate lawsuits seeking relief for [alleged] harms tied to interstate & international greenhouse gas emissions.” Look for a majority to laugh the plaintiffs out of court. But other cases involve “digital privacy & retirement-plan claims [that] may affect the reach of statutory liability & large-scale business exposure.” Wonder why the AI chieftains have suddenly found their product a possible “existential threat to humanity”? Can you consider they may be most worried about bankrupting anti-trust & product liability lawsuits & want a statutory monopoly if not immunity from liability should THEIR products wipe out mankind?

Davd Soul