Senate passes class action reform bill

CBS MarketWatch.com ^ | 2/10/05

[SierraWasp]

3:31 Senate passes class action reform bill

[SierraWasp]

Bulletin... Bulletin... Bulletin... Plus DJIA rally today!!!

[KevinDavis]

Excellent.. Good day today..

[elfman2]

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Senate voted 72-26 Thursday to pass legislation that would move many class action lawsuits from state to federal courts. Passage came after a number of Democratic amendments were defeated. The Republican-controlled House is expected to take quick action on the bill, which requires federal courts to hear cases where the amount of the dispute is more than $5 million, and when the defendant and any of the plaintiffs live in different states.

[SierraWasp]

Ping! Ping! Ping!!! Ding! Ding! Ding!!!

Oh what a beautiful morning... Oh what a beautiful day... I've got a beautiful feeling... Everything's going "W's" way!!!

[newsgatherer]

do you ahve a bill number by any chance?

[scory]

I confess I do not understand why this is good. I am sure there are freepers out there who understand this thing and could explain. Hopefully using small words and simple sentences. Thank.s

[The Old Hoosier]

This bill will prevent a small group of Dem lawyers from getting rich enough to buy the presidency in the next decade.

[michigander]

S.5
Class Action Fairness Act of 2005

[Indy Pendance]

Think of class action lawsuits, for example, asbestos and pharmaceuticals (the latest vioxx and clones), it's the lawyers get rich scheme, and puts legitimate companies out of business. The lawyers were/are? trying to sue the manufacturers of lead based paint sold over 50 years ago.

[Primetimedonna]

Will the new law have any real teeth to it??

[pas]

It prevents judge shopping.

[Indy Pendance]

I don't know, hope someone posts the voted on bill so we can read it. I'm really bad at finding those things.

[SmithL]

Do you really think he'll sign it if the House approves it?

[Gaffrig]

This is important because certain state courts "bend over backwards" for the plantiff lawyers. A few state courts seem to attact most of these big class action lawsuits. This will stop forum shopping by the wonderful people in the plantiffs bar.

[Indy Pendance]

I believe he mentioned it in his SOTU address. Like another poster stated, let's see if it has any teeth to it. If anyone can find the current bill, please post it, I always find the outdated bills.

[SmithL]

	Posted on Thu, Feb. 10, 2005
	Senate OKs limit on class action lawsuits By JESSE J. HOLLAND Associated Press WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday gave President Bush the first legislative victory of his second term by approving legislation to help shield businesses from major class action lawsuits. Under the legislation, long sought by big business, large multistate class action lawsuits like the ones that have been brought against tobacco companies could no longer be heard in small state courts. Such courts have handed out multimillion-dollar verdicts. Instead, the cases would be heard by federal judges, who have not proven as open to those type of lawsuits. The Senate passed the bill 72-26. The House is expected to take it up next week and send it to President Bush for his signature. Bush and other bill supporters - who have pushed for the legislation for almost six years - say it is needed because greedy lawyers have taken advantage of the state system by filing frivolous lawsuits in state courts where they know they can get big verdicts. Senators who back the bill say lawyers make more money from such cases than do the actual victims, and that lawyers sometimes threaten companies with class action lawsuits just to get quick financial settlements. Regular people, they assure, will not lose their day in court. The bill "is designed to rein in the lawsuit abuses, and it does just that," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. said. "A plaintiff may end up in federal court, yes, rather instead of state court, but no citizen will lose his or her right to bring a case." Opponents say Bush and other bill supporters are trying to help businesses escape proper judgments for their wrongdoing - and also to hurt the trial lawyers who litigate the cases, some of whom are big Democratic contributors. "Are there bad lawyers that bring meritless cases? Sure there are, and we should crack down on them," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, a former trial lawyer. "But this bill is not about punishing bad lawyers. It is about hurting consumers and helping corporations avoid liability for misconduct." Eight Democrats were sponsors of the bill, leaving the rest with no way to block it. Bush and other supporters say the bill, which would send most multistate class action lawsuits to federal court instead of allowing them to be heard in state courts, is needed because lawyers try to file lawsuits in friendly jurisdictions where they are most likely to get large payouts. The bill's aim "is to make sure when companies are called on the carpet, when they are involved in a class action litigation, they're in a court, in a courthouse with a judge where the companies have a fair shake, where the odds, the decks aren't stacked against them," said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del. Changing the legal system - including class action lawsuits, medical malpractice lawsuits and asbestos injury lawsuits - has been a priority of Bush and the business community. "The reason why this bill is the highest priority of the Bush administration and the Republican leadership in Congress is because of one simple fact: Class action suits moved from state courts to federal court are less likely to go forward, to be tried, and they are less likely to reach a verdict where someone wins or loses," said Senate Democratic Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill. And if the plaintiffs win, businesses are "less likely to pay a reasonable amount of money in federal court than in state court." The GOP-controlled Senate struck a deal with the House saying if senators passed the bill unchanged, representatives would approve the bill as-is and send it to the White House to be signed into law. So senators fought off several Democratic amendments, including changes that would have blocked federal judges from throwing out complicated multistate class action lawsuits or would have exempted state attorneys general actions and civil rights cases from the bill's provisions. Senate Republicans also had a few amendments they would have liked to place on the bill, but bowed to the demand by Bush and House Republicans that they pass it unaltered. "This bill, like most, is not perfect. But I believe that it represents the best that can be done to solve what is a real problem in our legal system," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Under the compromise legislation, class-action suits would be heard in state court if the primary defendant and more than one-third of the plaintiffs are from the same state. But if less than one-third of the plaintiffs are from the same state as the primary defendant, the case would go to federal court. At least $5 million would have to be at stake for a federal court to hear a class-action suit. The bill also would limit lawyers' fees in so-called coupon settlements - when plaintiffs get discounts on products instead of financial settlements - by linking the fees to the coupon's redemption rate or the actual hours spent working on a case. On the Web: Senate bill is S. 5, can be found at: http://thomas.loc.gov

---

© 2005 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.contracostatimes.com

[Dutchgirl]

Lawyers "shop" for uneducated jury pools in states like Misissippi. (Remember the McDonald's coffee award?)

By immediately filing federal court, it removes the jury shopping, and it also unclogs alot of the local state and court systems (lawyers getting rich on appeals and our rates for EVERYTHING going up to pay for them.

[NeoCaveman]

Because it screws the trial lawyers. Trial lawyers are a major source of cash for DemonRat candidate's campaigns.

[Indy Pendance]

"The bill also would limit lawyers' fees in so-called coupon settlements - when plaintiffs get discounts on products instead of financial settlements - by linking the fees to the coupon's redemption rate or the actual hours spent working on a case."

I didn't know this. Just amazing. I did once get a check for $0.31 on some credit card class action lawsuit, I believe, and I didn't even sign up for it.

[kevkrom]

I confess I do not understand why this is good. I am sure there are freepers out there who understand this thing and could explain. Hopefully using small words and simple sentences. Thank.s

1) Lawyers won't be able to judge-shop. 2) Suits get resolved once, rather than the threat of 50 separate litigations to blackmail the defendant with.