>> Most of the cases are decided by jury. Why is no part of the rant directed at juries? <<

Juries aren't sufficiently trained and grounded in legal principles, IMO, and are too easily swayed by emotion. Let's face it, if a parent lost a kid through some really stupid thing the kid did with a product (and there was lack of oversight from said parents), and the plaintiff's lawyer was able to portray it as a case between a grieving parent who just lost their child against a nameless, faceless huge corporation which won't miss $10 million, which way do you think a jury is likely to go emotionally?

I don't particularly blame the juries for this. They arent generally trained in the ins-and-outs of civil litigation.

I for one would like to see paid professional juries in civil cases, which have some basic training in law and legal principles. Such juries would be more likely to judge based on fact and law than on emotion, I think.

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