A lot less.

I have no expectation of that changing.

There was the so-called securities law reform, which cut deeply into the ability to sue corporations for defrauding their shareholders or the market.  

There was the so-called tort reform which went forward in the 90s, which cut the guts out of most of the personal injury practice.  An example:  a friend recently related that a particular serious but relatively common back injury - a herniated lumbar disc at L4-L5 without radiculopathy,  something easily gotten in a car accident - had a damages value at settlement or trial of between $40,000 and $60,000 in 1992.  That same injury, today, has a damages value of about $30,000 to $35,000.  And, that assumes that the victim has not somehow given up his right to sue by purchasing the marginally less-expensive form of insurance which does not allow all injuries to be the subject of a suit, rather only the more "Serious" ones.  

You might say that the serious injuries will get compensated and, to a degree you'd be right, but its those injuries which have been cut out of the compensation system by the insurance law changes of the 90s but are nonetheless real which made the real difference.  The back and neck injuries you'd settle for $10,000 or $15,000 - painful and lasting - are a lot more common than the herniated discs, and those smaller cases made up a lot of the bread and butter of law practices.  They're gone.

Of course, if your TV has as many car insurance ads as mine, you know where the "savings" are going.

Real Estate Closings. Banks getting federal bailout money will be pressured to make more mortgage loans. Meanwhile a likely moratorium on foreclosures will encourage more home sales