Charles Dickens said that if there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers. Every day in the United States someone has a reason to seek the help of a lawyer. Many people like to put down lawyers, but there are many reasons people desperately need them.
At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are deliberately using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving. An accident caused by this can result in a personal injury claim. Each day, people deliberately drive drunk almost 300,000 times, but fewer than 4,000 are arrested. In 2013, 3,154 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers, and about 424,000 people were injured. Life on the road is definitely dangerous. In 2013, there were 21,132 passenger vehicle occupants who lost their lives in traffic crashes and an estimated 2.05 million passenger vehicle occupants who were injured. Averaging one accident every 10 seconds, 6 million car collisions occur in the United States annually.
Furthermore, there are accidents in the workplace. In 2014, the average age of disabled-worker beneficiaries was 53.7. A shocking 85% of Worker?s compensation claims are attributed to employees slipping on slick floors.Yet, only 74% of states require all businesses to have workers’ comp. In 2013, an estimated 917,100 work related injuries necessitated some time off work. In September 2015, employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $33.37 per hour. Workers? compensation costs to employers were $83.2 billion in 2012, an increase of 6.9% from 2011. In 2013, a preliminary total of 4,405 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States.
Then there are medical malpractice cases. Close to 50% of all birth injuries are potentially avoidable by identification and planning for obstetrical risk factors. The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that about 225,000 people die each year from medical malpractice. A recent Harvard University study showed that medical expenses account for approximately 62% of personal bankruptcies in America.
Americans seem to do pretty well getting themselves in bad situations where they require the help of a lawyer. The average American home has 13 payment cards and the typical credit card purchase is 112% higher than if using cash. Fewer than one in four Americans have enough money in their savings account to cover at least six months of expenses in the event of an emergency. Roughly 75% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and 27% have no savings at all. Studies show that just over 1 in 4 of today’s 20 year olds will become disabled before reaching age 67 due to being involved in dangerous sports and activities. In 2014, only 17.1 percent of persons with a disability were employed, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
The annual cost of civil lawsuits to the U.S. economy is $239 billion. An estimated 20% of federal civil personal injury lawsuits result from vehicle crashes, 13% result from products liability injuries, and 10% result from medical malpractice. Medical malpractice lawsuits paid out $3.6 billion in 2013. It seems that the population need lawyers much more than lawyers need clients. Besides the statistics mentioned above, there are a need for social security disability lawyers, divorce attorneys and personal injury lawyers. It is a good thing that we have many kinds of lawyers available to get us out of the fixes we get ourselves into.