“Frivolous Lawsuits” Don’t Actually Exist

I have a lot of pet peeves. They range from the propensity of restaurants to leave the tails on shrimp to the fact that much of the time, I’m not invisible. But not many things piss me off more than the use of the term “frivolous lawsuit”. I say that because actual frivolous lawsuits are virtually nonexistent. In fact, if I may be so bold, I believe that in the context of litigation, we use the term “frivolous” frivolously. And yes, that is what passes for “bold” in my affrighted life.

As a former lawyer and public policy maker, I have heard that dreaded term frequently throughout my professional life. As a lawyer, virtually every defendant in my civil cases described the case against them as frivolous, often in the case of overwhelming evidence. It doesn’t matter if there is the sworn testimony of two dozen nuns saying that you ran the red light, a videotape of you doing it, and an audio-recording of you saying “Hey, here comes a red light. Fuck The Man and his rules.! I’m gonna run it!!” The claim that you indeed did run the red light is an exercise of rank frivolity.

I even saw this in some of the criminal cases I handled.

CHESTER tha DECAPITATOR: (his self-chosen nickname)They are frivolously saying I unlawfully decapitated the Longbottom family of five just because they found four of their heads in my basement.