It took a while for me to understand why the threat of a lawsuit is so terrifying in the States. It seemed absurd for both parties to pay even if one is clearly in the wrong. I still don't understand why people are defending this system or only changing it piecemeal for certain cases (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_publ...).

Here in Germany, losers pay and the cost for lawyers is calculated by the amount the argument is about. This way, you can't bankrupt someone by winning a minor argument in court using extremely expensive lawyers.