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San Dimas, CA 91773
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- Privacy Policy - |
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Dreier Votes to Rein In Junk Lawsuits
September 14, 2004
WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman David Dreier (R-San Dimas), Chairman of the
House Rules Committee, voted today to approve legislation that will
significantly reduce the burden of junk lawsuits on our court system and small
businesses. The Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act,
H.R. 4571,
passed the House today,
229-174.
“The rising cost of insurance in this country is just one sign that frivolous
lawsuits have gotten out of control,” Dreier said. “We have taken an important
step today to bring reform to the judicial system that will ultimately protect
the rights of our citizens and allow legitimate lawsuits to move through the
system more quickly. Small businesses and consumers will see relief as a
result of this important legislation.”
The Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act will: restore mandatory sanctions for filing
frivolous lawsuits, including attorneys’ fees and compensatory costs; abolish
Rule 11's current “free pass” provision which allows lawyers to avoid
sanctions for making frivolous claims; restore the opportunity for sanctions
for abuses of the discovery process; allow Rule 11's provisions preventing
frivolous lawsuits to apply to state cases in which a state judge finds the
case affects interstate commerce by threatening jobs and economic losses to
other states; and, prevent “forum shopping”- the notorious practice by which
personal injury attorneys cherry-pick courts and bring lawsuits in
jurisdictions that consistently hand down astronomical awards, even when the
case has little or no connection to the state or locality.
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