Litigation Nation

A Cultural History of Lawsuits in America

By: Peter Charles Hoffer

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eText | 20 September 2019 | Edition Number 1

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Americans have long been identified as a people of law and lawyers with an addiction to lawsuits. In Litigation Nation, Peter Charles Hoffer, one of America’s most preeminent legal historians, charts the history of civil litigation from the seventeenth century to the present, using key cases pursued by ordinary people to illustrate how the civil courts have been a battlefront to contest the boundaries of permissible personal conduct in times of social and political change. Using representative case studies from each period—from defamation suits in seventeenth-century America to recent civil rights and gender discrimination lawsuits, Hoffer’s concise and accessible history shows how litigation reflects the lives and values of ordinary Americans.

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The United States has more civil litigation than any other nation in the Western world. This book attempts to make sense of this phenomenon by examining the issue from colonial to contemporary times. Hoffer is well qualified to tackle this difficult topic. Chapters cover defamation, real estate buying/selling, slavery, labor, stock swindles (especially in railroading), divorce, civil rights, and product liability/mass tort litigation. In addition, the author traces wounded honor and personal dignity as values that have evolved over the centuries, most recently with the rise of “identity politics.” As an alternative to violence, Hoffer concludes, litigation is a useful tool. Hoffer’s study covers a vast topic in a clear and concise manner that will appeal to those interested in American law, especially historians and legal scholars.