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Comment by ahartmetz

8 hours ago

Check out the amount of lawyers per capita. From experience in Berlin, one of the most dysfunctional German states, the length of lawsuits is a big problem, complexity I don't know - but costs are not crazy, and loser pays (a fixed amount depending on properties of the case). AFAIU, a side can pay more than the fixed amount for their lawyer, but the loser will not pay more. All that discourages outspending someone with frivolous litigation.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/lawyers-p...

> Check out the amount of lawyers per capita

Apparently a highly biased measurement because the German legal system has more public funding compared to the US. I asked «For an argument against litigious societies, where someone points to "lawyers per capita" to compare the US with Germany, what might be a better yardstick?»

The response was interesting to me: the key bit was "Germany has a massive civil service and specialized court system where many law degree holders work as judges or state administrators". I'm a geek from New Zealand so unfortunately that isn't something I can validate from knowledge.