Some countries have laws much more favorable for privacy and asset protection than the United States. Creating an offshore trust to hold assets in an offshore bank account creates a strong deterrent to frivolous lawsuits. Filing a lawsuit in an offshore jurisdiction usually requires hiring local counsel (expensive) and re-litigating the original claim.
But beyond deterrence, there can be significant procedural disadvantages for plaintiffs in offshore jurisdictions. For example, the statute of limitations is shorter or operates differently in many offshore jurisdictions. A claim filed on time in the United States may be too late to reach assets held offshore.
