I'm sorry of asking, but what's wrong in the US when you go to the court alone, without the lawyer? I'm asking because I live in Europe, I did that in civil case and I did won. Actually judge in the end of the first day advised me to hire a lawyer, I said I cannot afford that and then government pointed one to me.
In this case there's obviously no cybersquatting, so what's the excuse not going alone?
The risk is that it's not just the domain name at stake. A lost court case can result in an order to pay the opposition's costs. For a large legal team, that can be expensive.
I don't think so, no. Why should a person or company be financially punished for doing nothing wrong? Your suggestion means that if you are sued and pay for a decent lawyer to defend you, but your opponent pays someone dirt cheap (or no-win, no-fee), and then you win, you will be out of pocket for your own defence.
