Shoppers head into a Wal-Mart "Supercenter" in Bossier City, La. The retailer has been sued over matters ranging from the security of parking lots to the actions of crowds of bargain-hunters.
Wal-Mart is a legend in American business, a 39-year-old retail dynamo that trails only ExxonMobil in annual revenue. But in America's courtrooms, Wal-Mart has another distinction: As the company's sales have soared, analysts say, it appears to have become the nation's most popular private-sector target for lawsuits.
By its own count, Wal-Mart was sued 4,851 times last year — or nearly once every two hours, every day of the year. Juries decide a case in which Wal-Mart is a defendant about six times every business day, usually in favor of the Bentonville, Ark., retail giant. Wal-Mart lawyers list about 9,400 open cases.
No one keeps a comprehensive list of all the nation's litigation, but legal analysts believe that Wal-Mart is sued more often than any American entity except the U.S. government, which the Justice Department estimates was sued more than 7,500 times last year. Dozens of lawyers across the United States now specialize in suing Wal-Mart; many share documents and other information via the Internet.
But the huge volume of Wal-Mart lawsuits is only half the story.
About Wal-Mart Founded: 1962
Headquarters: Bentonville, Ark.
Employees: 1.2 million worldwide
2000 revenue: $191 billion
2000 net income: $6.3 billion
Shoppers per week: Nearly 100 million
Stores*
• Wal-Mart stores: 1,667
• Supercenters: 998
• Sam's Clubs: 486
• Neighborhood Markets: 23
International operations:*Argentina (11 stores); Brazil (21); Canada (177); China (14); Germany (93); Korea (7); Mexico (520); Puerto Rico (17); and the United Kingdom (246).
Wal-Mart, which promotes itself as a down-home friendly business, is helping change the nature of corporate litigation by aggressively fighting many cases even when it would be cheaper for the company to settle, analysts say.
The policy runs counter to the strategy of "settle quickly and cut your losses" that companies have used for generations. But it is paying dividends for Wal-Mart, which in the past five years has seen the pace of its lawsuits stabilize as potential plaintiffs and their lawyers opt not to sue after weighing the costs of fighting the retailer.
Insurance companies, drug makers and other frequently sued businesses have kept an eye on the retailer's legal tactics, and have adopted some of them.
Like Wal-Mart's product line, its lawsuits come in many varieties.
