WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) today welcomed President George W. Bush’s renewed calls for passage of the Class Action Fairness Act, a bill designed to curb class action lawsuit abuse.
“President Bush has long been an ardent supporter of class action reform and we’re pleased to see him throw the full weight of his office behind this vital piece of legislation,” said Stanton D. Anderson, executive vice president and chief legal officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Today’s event sends a loud and clear signal to Congress and the American people that class action lawsuit reform is long overdue.”
The Class Action Fairness Act would reduce class action lawsuit abuse by allowing greater scrutiny of settlements that provide coupons or something else of little or no value to consumers, but return millions in legal fees to class action attorneys. In addition, the bill would stop the rampant practice of venue shopping of large national class actions by allowing federal courts to hear more national class action lawsuits involving plaintiffs and defendants from multiple states.
A version of the bill was introduced in the 108th Congress, was passed by the House of Representatives and has the support of more than 60 members of the U. S. Senate.
“America’s working families and their employers have waited long enough for relief from the high prices and economic instability fueled by class action abuses,” added Anderson, who is also chairman of the Class Action Fairness Coalition, an alliance of businesses and trade associations dedicated to curbing class action lawsuit abuse. “We look forward to working with the administration, Congress and the members of the Class Action Fairness Coalition to pass class action reform as soon as possible.”
The mission of the Institute for Legal Reform is to make America’s legal system simpler, fairer and faster for everyone. It seeks to promote civil justice reform through legislative, political, judicial and educational activities at the national, state and local levels. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation, representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.