Why is the US such a litigious society?

Answer 1

Yes it is. Some of the most minor and just plain stupid issues and disputes wind up going to court. Unfortunately, too many are given credence by everyone involved. The person who insists on suing, the lawyer taking the case and just as important, the people on juries who are willing to give plaintiffs millions of dollars to people who spill hot coffee on themselves and then sue because the cup did not warn them the coffee was hot.

-EDIT-

On the contrary, that case isn't as frivolous as most people think. I remember this case, it was about a lady who was in a car when she had ordered coffee from McDonalds which resulted in a spill that burned her legs.

On it's face it seems frivolous, but if you look at the facts of the case you'll see that McDonalds had actually sold scalding hot coffee, because customers were complaining that the coffee that they were selling were getting too cold too quickly. As a result of these complaints McDonalds had knowingly sold extremely hot coffee to fulfill the wishes of their customers.

During the trial, it was discovered that McDonalds had known the risk and calculated how much it would cost them to settle for every person who was burnt versus how many customers they would lose if they sold 'cold' coffee. They calculated that the latter would cost them more than awarding settlement for every person that was burned.

As a result, the jury awarded the woman a large amount of money, not because she was just burned by a cup of coffee that didn't warn her it was hot, but because it was supposed to send companies a message that they can't knowingly allow customers to be hurt or take damage because it would cost them less.

Answer 2

I mean, why do everyone og around suing each other all the time, or threatning to do so? Is the threshold for filing a suit so low in the US?

The lawyers stand to make money from law suits so they always encourage people to go to law - it's their income.

Thank you for the answer!

IS that the only reason? I mean, is there nothing about the laws/the legal system which encourages suits?