Lawsuits are the norm in the contracting and real estate development industries.  Customers sue the developers and general contractors; general contractors sue their sub-contractors. And each one counter-sues the other!  Every contractor I have known gets involved with numerous lawsuits.  It sort of “goes with the territory.”

In Donald Trump’s case of the approximately 3,500 lawsuits, according to USA Today (June 2, 2016), about 1,900 of them were his suing others for non-performance, or to protect his Trump brand. In about 1,450 cases, others sued him and/or his companies.  Most were tied to cases in which he would license his name to a project that failed. The courts usually ruled that lending his name to a project does not make him liable for losses suffered at the hands of the developer.  (The remaining legal actions were tied to the bankruptcies of his businesses.)

The “Trump University” lawsuit, in which he is accused of misleading students, is still pending. The term “University” was a marketing device he used in order to add prestige to the school. Gold’s Gym had “Gold’s Gym University.” McDonald’s had “Hamburger U.” And how many of us have attended a “Free” seminar where we hoped to learn more about investing in the stock market or real estate to become millionaires, only to learn that we needed to pay more to know all the secrets?  I know that my greedy side has urged me to take the next step.  Still, I am not the multi-millionaire that I expected to become.

Trump’s general counsel, Alan Garten, defended the number of lawsuits by saying, “Our philosophy is that we are a company of principle. When we believe we are in the right, we are going to pursue the matter to the end. If that requires that we go to trial and present evidence to a jury, we are prepared to do so. We are not going to cave to pressure.”

There is no question that Donald Trump does not shy away from a fight. But suing (and being sued) makes someone neither good, nor bad.  The courts decide who is right or wrong. jdh

Tomorrow’s Blog: “Trump inherited his money.  He didn’t really earn it.”