So, you want to sue? Read this first. Part 1

I've sued and have worked on litigation teams.
Here are two things I've observed that litigants should know:

1 -- The "lawsuit lottery" is a myth - payouts can take several years, and people have died waiting.

A quick glance through PACER can give you some real numbers. If a lawsuit was closed within six months, chances are fairly high that the suit was dismissed, either voluntarily ("Oops, my bad...") or involuntarily ("There's no valid claim here - dismissed!"). Any lawsuit aged longer than a year has a better chance of survival. Some lawsuit dockets contain, literally, thousands of docket items / documents. A best-case scenario is a suit that ends in a settlement within two years. So, NO, you don't simply file and cash in.

2 -- Filing fees are nothing; mailing, discovery, and (especially) depositions can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

A single discovery package, slightly over 400 pages of material, once cost me over $40 to send via next-day air. I've seen bills for transcripts run $1,200 and higher. Discovery means that the attorneys on both sides review and catalog every single document that comes through the door for the case on hand, and attorney time ain't cheap. One employment law suit cost a defendant corporation approximately $80,000 to fight before they settled. Unless your case is a clear case where the facts are not in dispute, expect to be asked to pay costs.

3 -- Settlements aren't what they are made out to be.

When you see news of a large settlement, think of the lawyers and other professionals' fees first. While attorneys' contracts may state a percentage figure, the actual settlement and other factors of the case may require a lot more money to go to those who worked the case - contracts typically specify that certain costs (remember the depositions mentioned above?) are borne by the client. Also - if a client had expensive medical bills, costs of these are typically negotiated towards an insurance rate, and paid either all or in part.

4 -- Taxes - after all is said and done, the IRS / State revenue dept comes in for their share.

Each category / type / claim might have a different taxation rate, leaving the winner of litigation holding State / Federal money that they would have to pay. A tax attorney would likely be retained for large and complex settlements, costing a winner even more money.

5 -- Police, false charges, new "friends" - oh, my!

Litigation (particularly civil rights lawsuits) may incur payback set-ups and false charges from angry and embittered police officers. A litigant could easily face false allegations and visits by any number of different agencies by jilted losers. And then there is the retinue of new "friends" hoping to get a cut of the award. Look up what happens to the winners of actual lotteries, and see how many have been set up, robbed, etc.

SUMMARY

Litigation is not all that it is cracked up to be, and if a plaintiff is not careful, they could suffer much more through the process of litigation than what a minor event or issue could cause. One of the best uses of an attorney is to negotiate a pre-litigation settlement that would negate the need for litigation. Although a pre-litigation settlement would be a significantly smaller amount than what a jury could render, such might be worthwhile for a "minor" event, considering that juries have been less-than-enthusiastic about handing out a larger award. For example, one family was awarded something like four cents for the death of their loved one at the hands of their local police dept.

Hope this helps!