[Redbob]

The salient points, wherever you read it, are that lawsuits and the fear of lawsuits cost this country $865 billion per year, equivalent to a "tort tax" of $9,827 on a family of four.
This compares to the total annual output of all 6 New England states - as if that were a meaningful number.

This cost is made up of a combination of direct costs -
money taken from the pockets of producers, and put into the pockets of leeches lawyers;
and indirect costs, non-productive actions people take to protect against the chance of baseless lawsuits, like unnecessary extra diagnostic procedures in a doctor's office.

[waverna]

Does that figure include the costs of liability insurance, such as property, auto and malpractice insurance? If so it may be overstating things a bit.