Newspapers have gotten more and more unreliable. There are a ton of AI generated stories. Many of the ones written by humans are generic and appear in multiple publications. Even when there is a thoughtful story, writers don’t always break down basic facts in way that makes sense.
The biggest example of that in the legal world is when you read an article about a lawsuit that has been filed, and the article says that they are asking for $50,000, or in excess of $50,000. It often relates to something horrific like a child molested by a teacher or someone killed in a car accident where the other driver is drunk.
If you don’t know how Illinois courts work, you’d read this and think something like, “You can get millions if you burn yourself with coffee at McDonalds, but if a FedEx truck rear ends you and you are paralyzed, it’s only worth $50,000?”
People call me with a statement similar to that all of the time. They assume because they read it, it must be true. What they are reading is correct, but the interpretation is way off. And I blame reporters for not making a simple clarification.
Illinois has various court systems. Some cases get filed in family law court. Others are probate if it involves what to do with an estate. Smaller cases end up in what is called the civil division. And the biggest value cases end up in the law division.
To have a law division case, when you file the lawsuit you must state a belief that the case is worth in excess of $50,000. That doesn’t mean you think it’s worth only 50k. It means it’s worth more than 50k. You could think it’s worth $20 million and when you file the paperwork with the courts, you’d still say it’s worth in excess of $50,000.
Basically it’s a procedural item that determines which Judges will potentially hear the case and what rules will be followed as to discovery and timelines. It’s essentially an organizational matter.
But by mentioning these dollar amounts, newspapers (and sometimes TV people) confuse the public about what the case is worth. The reality is that a good lawyer will tell you when they file the lawsuit that they don’t yet know what the case is worth. Only blowhards pretend like they are suing for a set dollar amount. There’s no way to know what a case is worth until you go through the discovery process.
So don’t be stressed or fooled by these dollar amounts. It’s unfortunate that the $50,000 figure gets mentioned at all in these articles because all it does is confuse people. Trust your attorney to advocate for you and try to get the most your case could be worth. And if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to give us a call.
