Quote:
Originally Posted by ottopottomouse
I don't have a clue how the American legal system works at all - do these huge compensation demands over brief events ever get paid out or are they just for headlines?
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The first thing you do when you get sued is call your lawyer/insurance company, assuming you have one or both. Then basically the insurance company takes over with their lawyer or "claims adjuster" and investigates and then determines whether to quickly settle, file a motion to dismiss or bury them in paperwork and drag it on, always hoping to settle. It's just a numbers game based on many factors like location of claim (liberal or conservative jury pool) and legitimacy of the claim.
But no, in general, those big numbers demanded are just pulled out of some ambulance chaser's ass and almost never paid.