Advice May Lead to Frivolous Lawsuits

“Damage From Neighbor’s Tree Is Worth Filing Claim” by Robert J. Bruss, Jan. 13, clearly shows why the public has no respect for the law, the courts and lawyers. Bruss gives the advice to file a lawsuit because there is “everything to gain and nothing to lose.”

A reader requested legal advice about a neighbor’s tree. The reader had previously requested that the neighbor trim the tree because branches overhung his property. The neighbor complied. Later, a branch fell off the tree in a storm damaging the reader’s house. The reader wants to know if he can recover his insurance deductible from his neighbor in Small Claims Court.

As a lawyer and research attorney for the Los Angeles Superior Court, I believe ... filing a lawsuit without having any legal evidence of fault is nothing more than filing a frivolous lawsuit. I disagree that by doing so the reader has “nothing to lose.” The reader will lose a cooperative neighbor who had his tree trimmed when asked.

We all lose by having courts that are clogged with frivolous lawsuits. The court’s integrity is undermined when forced to deal with such nonsense.

Finally, lawyers who give advice to file a lawsuit because “anything can happen in Small Claims Court” encourage the perception that the legal system is nothing more than a crapshoot. Our courts exist to resolve legitimate disputes.

KATHRYN D. HILL

La Canada