Frivolous lawsuits, particularly those exploiting technical legal requirements like ADA Title III website accessibility claims, place a heavy burden on businesses—especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These suits often target minor compliance issues, forcing settlements due to high litigation costs (averaging $100,000 per case). With excessive tort costs reaching $589 billion annually in the U.S., businesses lack proactive tools to identify and mitigate such threats, leaving them vulnerable to predatory litigation.

How This Could Work

One way to address this problem is by creating a platform that monitors lawsuits nationwide, identifying patterns of frivolous filings. This could involve:

• Automated tracking: Scraping public court records and legal databases to detect serial plaintiffs or recurring claim types.
• Risk alerts: Notifying businesses when they are likely targets based on industry, location, or website features.
• Actionable guidance: Providing compliance checklists (e.g., ADA fixes) or referrals to vetted legal counsel.
• Shared insights: Building a database of known lawsuit trolls and high-risk jurisdictions to help businesses preemptively address vulnerabilities.

Potential Stakeholders and Incentives

This approach could benefit multiple groups:

• SMEs: Avoid costly litigation and reputational damage.
• Law firms: Gain clients seeking preventive legal services.
• Trade associations: License the tool to protect members in high-risk industries like hospitality or e-commerce.

Revenue could come from subscriptions, licensing fees, or referral commissions for connecting users with legal services.

Execution and Competitive Edge

A possible starting point could be an MVP focused on ADA Title III lawsuits, leveraging free court APIs like PACER to track filings and offer free risk assessments. Over time, the platform could expand to other frivolous claim types (e.g., slip-and-fall, patent trolling) and integrate partnerships with law firms.

Compared to existing tools like PACER (which requires manual searches) or accessibility scanners (which focus only on compliance), this platform could stand out by:

• Providing proactive alerts rather than reactive data.
• Combining legal tracking with actionable recommendations.
• Leveraging community-contributed insights to identify emerging threats.

By focusing first on ADA-related suits—a well-documented pain point—this approach could validate demand before scaling to other areas of predatory litigation.