Police brutality cases are said to be a 'cottage industry' for plaintiffs lawyers
Police brutality cases have become a hot practice area for plaintiffs lawyers, according to lawyers who spoke about the cases at a National Bar Association conference last month.
At one time, plaintiffs lawyers avoided police misconduct cases because of high discovery costs and difficulty overcoming immunity defenses, Law.com reports. Now lawyers are taking the cases because of an increase in video evidence and high verdicts in some cases.
Chicago lawyer James Montgomery said during the conference that police misconduct cases are a “cottage industry” for lawyers, according to the Law.com account. The nation’s 10 largest police departments are responsible for $1.2 billion in awards paid by cities from 2010 to 2014, Montgomery said.
“In this country, that’s $300 million in legal fees,” Montgomery said. “So it’s a great avenue to make money. And the police are feeding you new cases every day.”