Comparing the U.S. to other western countries is fraught with pitfalls. The English rule discourages private litigation, which is a more reasonable practice in Europe where there is aggressive public enforcement of the law. It's not a sane practice in a country where everything from labor rights to health and environmental rights are largely enforced through private litigation (by design).
I assure you that there is loads of private litigation in European countries (eg UK). There's even a term for it "compo culture", there are ads on TV looking for people who have been injured and they sue the other party.
We call those "ambulance chasers" in the US (though the act of actually following ambulances in search of potential clients is barratry and a crime). I had no idea you guys had them.
