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At a recent Trump rally, a Trump supporter punched a protester. The Donald claimed that he would pay the legal fees of the supporter who was in the fight. The CEO of our portfolio company, Josh Schwardron, explains, "That [Trump's] move may have gotten him a bit more support among his fans, but if he really wants to boost his image as the 'superhero for the little guy,' he had another option. He could have backed the other side. He could have promised to back any prospective plaintiff. Many people don’t realize that lawsuits are often much harder for plaintiffs than for defendants."
It’s one of the great ironies of our civil “justice” system that we do a better job protecting those who have injured others than those who have been injured. Plaintiffs are victims twice over. Trump knows all of this. He knows that if he steps in, then the case is not about not Jones vs McGraw anymore — “mano a mano,” as he would likely say. Instead, it’s Jones vs. the “yuge” Trump Organization. This “David vs. Goliath” scenario captures what almost every personal injury case looks like: an injured individual, who is a one-time player, going up against a large insurance company, who is a repeat player. The asymmetry of power allows these professional defendants to out-maneuver and bully plaintiffs into accepting low-ball settlements. It happens thousands of times a day — literally.
