Maloney wants to keep malarkey out of courts

Deepa Bharath

There’s a reason why manufacturers ask you to remove your baby

from the stroller before you fold it up and caution you not to iron

your clothes while you’re still wearing them.

Frivolous lawsuits -- an all-too-familiar trend for Maryann

Maloney.

The 43-year-old Corona del Mar resident heads the local chapter of

Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, a national organization that aims to

educate the public about the negative effect of frivolous lawsuits on

society.

Maloney has received the Legal Watch Dog Award from the American

Tort Reform Assn. for her work to educate homeowners about

alternatives to litigation over disputes concerning construction

defects.

“Lawsuits without merit hurt the economy,” Maloney said. “When a

company is sued to the point that their insurance rates shoot up and

they have to go out of business, jobs are lost.”

In the medical field, if such lawsuits cause malpractice insurance

rates to go up, quality of healthcare is likely to plummet as well,

she said.

“Frivolous lawsuits clog our courts, have a negative effect on

home prices and waste taxpayers’ money,” Maloney said.

The reason there are so many lawsuits is because it is so easy to

file one, she said.

“Anybody who wants to file a lawsuit can walk into the courthouse

and file one for less than $200,” she said. “They have nothing to

lose and everything to gain. People see other people getting these

big jury awards. It’s become a frenzy now.”

The American system is different from the British legal system, in

which the loser pays court costs, attorney fees and the award. If

such a tough system were to be enforced in the United States, people

wouldn’t be running to courthouses to claim their millions, Maloney

said.

However, not everybody agrees with Maloney and what her

organization stands for. Frivolous defenses are more common than

frivolous lawsuits, said Darren Aitken, a former Newport Beach

resident and a lawyer who has had his practice in Orange County for

the last 13 years.

“If people didn’t do anything wrong or if they accepted

responsibility when they did something wrong, there would be no

litigation,” he said.

Aitken said he is not against people settling issues between

themselves instead of going to court, but most individuals file a

lawsuit only when they don’t have a choice.

“If I have a problem with my car am I going to file a lawsuit

right away?” he said. “No. I would call the dealership and ask them

if they can fix the problem. That’s what most people would do.” Most

of the so-called frivolous lawsuits automatically get flushed out of

the system, Aitken said.

But in situations where people meet with hostility or lack of

response, the courthouse is the common man’s only hope, he said.

“It is the one branch of government that’s responsive to

individual citizens,” Aitken said.

Maloney and her organization, however, continue to emphasize the

need to look at alternatives to filing lawsuits, such as encouraging

homeowners to first contact their builder before calling a

construction defect attorney.

“Attorneys often flash big dollar signs at homeowners,” she said.

“But most of the time, much of the money is spent on lawyers’ fees,

expert witnesses and destructive testing of the homes. Often, only a

small portion of the money recovered remains to be spent on home

repairs.”

Mediation is key, Maloney said.

“That way, disputes are solved much more easily,” she said. “And

it’s a lot cheaper.”