When the guilty go broke, the rich get the bill

A tragedy happens. People get hurt. Lives are lost. Then the lawyers start looking around the room. Who can be held responsible?

That question sits at the center of a growing problem in American civil litigation. There’s nothing wrong with holding people and companies accountable when they actually cause harm. That’s what the justice system is supposed to do. But stretching legal theories to pull additional companies into a case because they have deeper pockets makes justice into a business model.