The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-16
TO TRY R. R. DAMAGE SUITS.
FOUR PARTS OF THE SUPREME
COURT SET APART.


With More Than $4,000 900 Sued
For and Win Q Prospective Recovery
OF Possibly Three Per Cent. Of That
Amount--The Ambulance Chasers' work
Out Of 7,7l2 actions included on the
Supreme Court Trial Term calendar, as
prepared by Calendar Clerk j. Lewis Lyon
last summer, no less than 1912 are accident
suits against railroads. The percentage
Is almost exactly one In four, and the street
railroads OF the city are the defendants
In fully ninety-fve out OF q hundred OF the
accident suits. Add to these the number
OF actions that have been begun since
the compiling OF the calendar, and the
number will fall not far short Of $500.
Such an array Of special cases naturally
tends to obstruot the calendar, and to OBJ
viate this in q measure, the calendar
for this year has been divided into three
sections: railroad" tort" and "con-
tract and other" cases. And. further to
simplify matters, four courts have been
set aside specially for the trial OF railroad
accident suits. These cases are called
from their own calendar, and then sent to
one or other OF these four courts.
The result promises to be gratifying.
and the end Of this legal year may, If present
indications are borne out, show that the
accident trials have kept pace with the
growth OF the calendar.
II this happens, 1t will be the first time
In some years.
The amount sued for IN these cases varies
from $500 to 100000 and m ay be averaged
at slightly over $1,000, which ould give
a grand total sued for on the calendared
cases alone OF about 3l4OOO.OOo. 1t will be
seen that in order to prevent the absorp-
ton, not alone of its earnings. but Of It's
capital, the New York City Railroad Com
pany, which now includes all the street
railroads of tina city is forced to fight these
suits with vigor. And the result OF the
ments is well shown by the fact that not
more than one in three plaintiffs gets
verdict, and in the ultimate result, after
appeals and retrials, barely one in eight.
And the average verdict IN the end does
not exceed 5000. So that In the long run
Of the total sued for in the Supreme Court
to the eventually successful claimants.
In the City Court, and the branches OF the
Municipal Courts, innumerabe accident
suits are brought, but the amount recover
able is limited in the City Court to 5000
and in the Municipal to $500. And paren-
thetcally it may be remarked that not
only is judgment against the company
more quickly and easily obtained in the
lower courts. but it is proportionately
verdict. Nor is the bugaboo Of appeal so
much in evidence. Verdicts are less seldom
reversed and rarely go beyond the Appel
late Term, which is a midway appeal court
between the City and Municipal courts,
and the Appellate Division, The City
to accident cases. while in the Municipal
courts one day is set aside each week for
such trials.
The process by which an accident case
Granted the accident. it follows a. surely
as the night the day that the injured person
will be assailed, whet her at the hospii al or
at his home by feet Of lawyers who make
a specially OF such cases.
Ambulance chasing az the Lao Jour
nal remarked the other day, has become
sort Of universal profession in this city.
No matter where or when an accident &C.
ours, there are always on hand some peo-
pie who seem to make it their special busi-
the name and address Of the injured person:
The professional ambulance chaser Of old
has been supplanted by the private citizen
passing at the time, the policeman on duty.
even the doctor who attends the case.
And needless to say. every one OF them hem e e
his trouble Some lawyers have runners
who inform them of every accident bulletin
posted at Police Headquarters. Others
rely on their private circle OF acquaint-
ances.
The injured man Is pestered till he either
makes a selection or kicks the whole bunch
out OF doors. In the majority OF cases the
patient, being i'll, poor or ignorant or a
mixture OF all three. tinged with burning
desire to get back a. The corporation, be
succumbs easily to the persuasion and ex-
travagant promises of the lawyer Should
he have any scruples they are soon swept
away by such talk. Then the retainer is
signed. almost invariably guaranteeing the
lawyer half the proceeds Of the suit; Next
the complaint Is drawn, signed and served
on the company, all within perhaps a week
OF less Of the accident. The client can wait
then for weeks, months, years perhaps.
before he sees any prospect OF trial.
the ambulance chasing system, but none
has received official approval
Where an honest case is honestly pre-
sented. the claimant usually finds dis
position on the companys part to meet
him half way An offer OF settlement is
rejected in good faith, things run along
without unnecessary delay. 1t is cheaper
for the company to settle good case than
to fight. 1t Ia most frequently cheaper
for the claimant also, Cases have been
known where plaintiff has been driven
to try his case, by successive reverses
in the appellate courts, three, four, and
even six times; the verdcts varying in
size or direction on every occasion Years
are thus consumed, witnesses die or disap-
pear, and the chances of ultimate success
become simmer and simmer
The company's corps OF detectives and
investigators succeed so often in unearth-
ing gross and deliberate frauds that In
the nature of things they suspect fraud
where none is intended, But recently
two lawyers have been sent to Sing Sing
for participation in such frauds, which
are the harder to discover because of the
comparative ease with which they may
be ooncocted.
Summed up 1t is the conclusion Of Judges,
lawyers and others who speak from ex-
perienoe that except where q clear case OF
negligence on the part OF the companys
servants can be shown 1t Ia better to settle
than to sue, unless. perhaps. where death
or permanent injuries have resulted. A
jury can be influenced, 1t is true, by pretty
face or a smooth tongue. but when the
dispassionate appeal Judges come to pass
on the evidence as 1t stands out in black
and white these adjuncts to an otherwise
unsupported case are no longer there to
bolster up the verdict and q reversal is
the natural consequence.
Reversals mean more delay. more ex-
pense and less hope. Even when a reversal
does not occur, large verdiots are fire.