Liability claims

Everyone knows that liability claims have gone wild in the United States with people suing each other for all sorts of trivial mishaps.  Judges hand out huge sums of moneys and lawyers rake in the cash over some of the most ridiculous claims. Often times settling out of court before a judgement has been passed down.
This is not the case in Costa Rica.  The National Insurance Institute (INS) never, or almost never, pays a liability claim before there is a court ruling on the matter.  The courts are backlogged and it has taken up to two years for a case to be heard.  This cuts back on a lot of the trivial claims.

What is even better is that in Costa Rica, most judges seem to believe that everyone should exercise reasonable care and look out for himself/herself.  I heard of a man who sued the owner of a building because he had tripped and fallen on the sidewalk.  The judge admonished the plaintiff to mind where he was walking and dismissed the complaint.

The United States, in my opinion, could learn from this.