by Sue A. Sponte

Created on: July 13, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

As sad as this sounds, the answer to deciding whether to sue or not has very little to do with how right you are. You should probably do what's called a cost-benefit analysis to see if what you will gain by suing is more than what you will lose.

First, let's put one issue aside. You have tried to work out your differences in person, right? Using the courts to resolve personal disputes will almost always cost you something, and you are not guaranteed that you will win in court.

Second: some battles are so important that you might be willing to fight them even if you know they will cost you money and you will lose. If that is the case, then the advice here is not for you.

For all other cases, you should probably try to get an answer to three questions: what might I gain by suing, what might I lose, and how likely is one result compared to the other?

"What might I gain?" Be realistic in thinking about this. We have all heard the stories of people who get millions of dollars by suing somebody. These stories are just a tiny percentage of all the lawsuits that get started every year. Most of the lawsuits that ask for millions of dollars get thrown out of court long before anybody gets close to seeing that kind of money. Let's say that you had a small fender-bender. You had $500 in damage to your car, and you made two trips to your doctor's office for a total of $500. Unless the other person was doing something absolutely horrible that caused them to hit you, you will probably never see more than the $1000. And in many states the money that you get back will be reduced by the amount that you were partially at fault in the accident.

"What might I lose?" Let's start with the obvious. In almost all cases, it will cost you money to sue somebody. This is certainly the case if you hire a lawyer. Under the so-called "American" system, each person in a lawsuit pays for their own lawyer. It is very rare when you sue somebody and win that the other person has to pay you back for your lawyer's fees. Beginning a lawsuit in most courts will also cost you a filing fee, which can be as much as several hundred dollars. Even if you go to small claims court (no lawyers allowed) you will have to pay a fee to file the lawsuit and you will have to think about the other costs that you will have, like making copies of bills to prove your damages, and the cost of missing work to go to court. Be realistic in thinking about how much it will cost.

"How likely are the costs and benefits?" You

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