Litigation Explosion

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Litigation Explosion

by aj5105 » Thu May 28, 2009 11:27 pm
Some commentators complain that a “litigation explosion” in the past decade has led to unreasonably high costs for U.S. businesses by encouraging more product liability suits against manufacturers. However, these complaints are based mainly on myth. Statistics show that the number of successful product liability suits has remained almost the same, and the average sum awarded in damages has grown no faster than the inflation rate.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?

(A) The number of unsuccessful suits has skyrocketed, imposing huge new legal expenses on businesses.

(B) Several of the largest awards ever made in product liability cases occurred within the last two years.

(C) The rise of the consumer movement has encouraged citizens to seek legal redress for product flaws.

(D) Lawyers often undertake product liability cases on a contingency basis, so their payment is based on the size of the damages awarded.

(E) Juries often award damages in product liability suits out of emotional sympathy for an injured consumer.
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by scoobydooby » Thu May 28, 2009 11:38 pm
would go for A.

conclusion: litigation explosion leading to unreasonable expenses is a myth as successful suits remain constant

A. says number of unsuccessful lawsuits skyrocketed=>definite increase in litigation and expenses=> not a myth. weakens

B, C, D and E are out of scope

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by Musicolo » Fri May 29, 2009 1:40 am
A - the same explenation as above

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Re: Litigation Explosion

by snehit » Fri May 29, 2009 5:12 am
aj5105 wrote:Some commentators complain that a “litigation explosion” in the past decade has led to unreasonably high costs for U.S. businesses by encouraging more product liability suits against manufacturers. However, these complaints are based mainly on myth. Statistics show that the number of successful product liability suits has remained almost the same, and the average sum awarded in damages has grown no faster than the inflation rate.
Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?

(A) The number of unsuccessful suits has skyrocketed, imposing huge new legal expenses on businesses.

(B) Several of the largest awards ever made in product liability cases occurred within the last two years.

(C) The rise of the consumer movement has encouraged citizens to seek legal redress for product flaws.

(D) Lawyers often undertake product liability cases on a contingency basis, so their payment is based on the size of the damages awarded.

(E) Juries often award damages in product liability suits out of emotional sympathy for an injured consumer.
I didnt get the last line

Statistics show that the number of successful product liability suits has remained almost the same, and the average sum awarded in damages has grown no faster than the inflation rate.

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by scoobydooby » Fri May 29, 2009 9:13 am
the last line is used to support the conclusion that rise in litigation costs is a myth, or litigation costs have not gone up too much

# of successful cases unchanged and penalties suffered did not go up too much=>litigation costs did not go up too much

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by mehravikas » Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:50 pm
Should be - A

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by nicolette » Sun May 15, 2016 2:46 pm
Yeah, A seems like the best answer