Reply #6: Senate tries again to limit class-action lawsuits (debate on 7/7/04) [View All]

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Senate tries again to limit class-action lawsuits (debate on 7/7/04)


Senate tries again to limit class-action lawsuits

Senators debated the Class Action Fairness Act, which Republicans (exposing Edwards pro-litigation, anti-civil justice reform agenda) see as their best chance to rein in large court awards against their business allies.

BY JIM ABRAMS Associated Press


WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled Senate began a new effort Tuesday to restrict class-action lawsuits that corporations contend are little more than get-rich schemes for trial lawyers.<snip>

The bill would move more class-action lawsuits, in which one person or a small group represents the interests of a class of people in court, out of state courts and into federal courts. Juries in state courts sometimes agree to huge penalties, but federal courts tend to accept fewer cases and grant smaller rewards.

The legislation also is aimed at reducing venue shopping, the practice of attorneys who seek to have cases tried in courts known for handing down huge damage awards.

''The most important aspect of it is it will put an end to class-action lawsuits that have national significance but they are decided in some Podunk county in some state of the nation like Madison County, Illinois,'' said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.<snip>

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle said the bill was ''one of the worst anti-consumer pieces of legislation that we will see in this Congress'' because it would help businesses escape judgments for wrongdoing.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miami...