Recently, president of the Alabama Association for Justice Bob Prince criticized the Pacific Research Institute in some Alabama newspapers ("Just ending in ‘pants’ suit," Gadsden Times, June 27 and "The system works" Times Daily, June 27). In doing so, Bob Prince accidentally made some very revealing assertions about how he thinks the American legal system should work.

Mr. Prince claims that the ruling in favor of the defense in the now-infamous $54 million trouser trial proves that the tort system works “as-is.” While he acknowledges the fact that the plaintiff, Judge Roy Pearson, was ordered to pay the defendants’ court costs, he conveniently ignores the much greater financial loss incurred by the defendants due to a lawsuit, which should have never even gained traction.

Custom Cleaners was forced to pay more than $100,000 in attorney fees to defend itself against Pearson. In order to potentially receive compensation for these costs, the storeowners will have to go through extra bureaucratic processes, filing additional paperwork, and hoping for a judgment in their favor. Even the attorney representing the storeowners, however, stated that he’s doubtful Pearson will have to pay any of this money to his clients.

And, let’s not forget the foregone business revenue resulting from having to shift their energy and focus to Pearson’s lawsuit. Don’t expect the storeowners to be compensated by Pearson for this lost income.

Despite Mr. Prince’s suggestion that PRI would not publicize the outcome of the trial, we were quick to mention on our website these additional costs that resulted from Pearson’s frivolous lawsuit – even given his loss in court – because they are signs of a broken tort system that is costing Americans $865 billion a year.

If this is an example of the system working “as-is,” as Mr. Prince believes, it’s a shocking admission of how the Alabama Association for Justice believes the tort system ought to work.