American law Wholesale attack

摘要

A merica's complicated legal system has spawned a small but busy industry of books, magazine articles and opinion pieces excoriating its many flaws. The genre depends on the myriad cases thrown up every year which seem, at a glance, absurd: an old lady winning millions from McDonald's after spilling coffee in her own lap; a jury awarding billions against General Motors for a rear-end collision which the company did not cause; or local authorities dismantling children's playgrounds for fear of being sued.