A James Garner definition of why people sue

When [James Garner] finally got around to studying the accounts for the worldwide television reruns [of The Rockford Files] and saw how Lew Wasserman [head of MCA and Universal] and Universal were robbing him, he sued them. Nobody ever does that.

Garner did it, and got some millions back when he finally agreed with the thieves to settle out of court, he having been vindicated and they, no doubt, still with a mountain range of stolen money yet to spend. The impressive thing here is that Garner was in no way a born litigant. He doesn’t like having his time wasted, any more than anyone else. He just wanted to correct an anomaly, to punish an offense: to get justice, if you wish. [My emphasis]

— From “The Rockford Style,” by Clive James, in The December 2011 Atlantic

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