House Backs Bill to Curb Class Action Suits
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 13, 2003; Page A08
I hope this makes it. I really hate these "Class Action" suits. Easy money for the Shysters.
The House approved a bill yesterday making it harder for plaintiffs to file and receive speedy judgments in class action lawsuits. The 253 to 117 vote was the latest step in a long-running effort -- led by business groups and key Republicans -- to limit the liability of hospitals, insurers, corporations and others in suits alleging harm from their wrongdoing.
Under the bill, a class action suit -- in which a large number of similarly situated people are considered plaintiffs -- would move to federal court if it involves plaintiffs from multiple states and the stakes involved exceed $5 million. Federal courts are considered generally less sympathetic to class action suits than are state courts.
The House has passed such bills three times before, but they have stalled in the Senate. This time, several Senate Democrats have coalesced around a similar proposal. President Bush also supports the measure, ensuring it will become law if the Senate and House can agree on one version.
Proponents of the bill said Congress needs to restrain a runaway legal system in which trial lawyers chose judges likely to sympathize with their cause.
"In years past, the occasional news account of some outrageous class action verdict or settlement was light humor," said Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.). "Now the stories are so common there's no punch line, the class action judicial system itself has become a joke, and no one is laughing except the trial lawyers, all the way to the bank."
Critics, however, said the bill would dissuade lawyers from accepting cases involving personal or financial harm. Even when suits are filed, they said, unreasonable delays could result.
"At a time when we should be holding corporations more accountable, not less, this bill sends the wrong message," said Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.).
A class action suit typically starts when a plaintiff finds a lawyer willing to take on an injury case, usually for a contingency fee. The lawyer determines whether other individuals may have been similarly harmed, which would make the case broader -- and potentially more lucrative. If a judge certifies the class action request, then anyone affected by the defendant's alleged actions can be considered plaintiffs, and could receive compensation if the plaintiffs win.
Nearly 100 corporations and trade associations -- including the American Insurance Association and the Business Roundtable -- have lobbied for more than four years to limit class action suits. Trial lawyers opposing the bill also had their lobbyists out in force yesterday -- including Steve Elmendorf, a former aide to Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), House Democratic leader for eight years.
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