Am I a bad person for suing someone?

Hi guys, my name is Chris Parks. I'm a personal injury lawyer in Boulder, Colorado. I have, from time to time, had clients that are really concerned with suing someone, because they feel like they're injuring them individually, or that they're punishing them individually. I'm not trying to pass judgment on that, that decision, but let me explain to you how lawsuits work and how they affect the person that was negligent. Generally, you're suing the person because they have insurance. Once you file a claim against that person, they usually talk to their insurance company and the insurance company takes over.

And as a lawyer, what I'm usually concerned with, is how much insurance do they have. And I sometimes get what's called an “affidavit of no other insurance,” if I know that I'm going to max out the insurance policy for the person that has injured my client. I want to get an affidavit that says that “that's all the insurance I have.” And, in most cases in Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, in the three places that I practice, you're only going after the insurance of the other person. They're not going to get in trouble in some way. There's not going to be some sort of proceeding where they have to go to court. It's, it's a question between the injured person's lawyer and the adjuster for the person who caused the injuries insurance.

I'm usually not dealing with the person that hurts you. I'm usually dealing with their insurance company and 9 times out of 10, that's where it stops.

Now, there certainly are egregious accidents and situations where the person that is injured, wants to go after the person that injured them because of the circumstances. Let’s say that they've been convicted of drunk driving three times in their life, and they got behind the wheel and injured somebody that I’m representing for the fourth time, and they also got a ticket for drunk driving during the accident. In that case, yes, it's a different discussion, but most cases we’re going after the insurance, not the person individually.

So, I'm Chris Parks. I hope that helps you.

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