Let’s Take a Bite Out of Lawsuit Abuse

We need to save our legal system from exploitation by an elite group of greedy trial lawyers. The House of Representatives can help make that happen today by passing the Class Action Fairness Act. We need to call our members of Congress today and let them know we want to give back our legal system to honest, decent Americans with real grievances.

George Washington once said, “Of all the vexations in life, that of a tedious and perplexing lawsuit is the most disagreeable.” Imagine what he would have said about today’s jackpot justice system known as the class action lawsuit. The original intent was to allow similarly situated people to go to court as a group. For instance, suppose the water authority routinely overcharged its customers. The customers could sue as a “class,” rather than each one suing the water authority on his own.

The initial purpose of class action lawsuits was to save time, allow a court to more efficiently handle multiple similar disputes, and provide access to the courts for people who have suffered losses.

Unfortunately, pure greed has led many trial lawyers to exploit this legal device to enrich themselves at the expense of businesses and consumers — with fair and efficient justice a tragic casualty. Here are a few examples:

In one class action suit involving a bank, trial lawyers made $8.5 million, while the class of people they supposedly represented actually had to pay $91.13. In another case, lawyers received $5.8 million while the class of people they represented received a $13 rebate on a new $250 computer monitor.

Even the editorial board of The Washington Post finds the current system appalling, stating, “nowhere is the need for civil justice reform greater than in the high-stakes arena of class actions, where irrational rules have allowed trial lawyers to enrich themselves at the expense of businesses – many guilty of no misconduct – and without benefit to the lawyers supposed clients.”

If trial lawyers were simply getting rich and that was the end of the story, then so be it. The issue, however, is that their greed hurts workers, stockholders, consumers and the people’s faith in a fair, impartial, and predictable civil justice system. In other words, trial lawyer greed has a very real and harmful impact on the rest of us, and that’s not fair.

It’s a slick game that these trial lawyers play. The pick a company to sue and then go to a state court with judges elected with trial lawyer dollars and “certify” a class of plaintiffs – most of whom don’t even know they’re suing the company. The problem with allowing trial lawyers to pick friendly local judges for these massive cases is, as The Washington Post points out, “a judge accountable to a single county can make decisions regulating products distributed nationwide.”

Make no mistake about it. Trial lawyers will fight hard to stop any reforms in their cozy class action system. All those billions – yes billions – they have reaped from class action lawsuits have been reinvested back into the political system. While they may be limited in numbers, the trial lawyer agenda is heard because they pay to have it heard.

But the legal system does not belong to the trial lawyers. The legal system belongs to us – the American people. It is a critical component of our experiment in freedom and liberty. If we allow it to be exploited then we lose its predictability, its fairness, and its efficiency. And we undermine its credibility.

The House today will vote on a good piece of legislation. Class Action lawsuits would become more open, and more of them would be heard in federal court. The leadership of the House deserves credit for moving this legislation. Those of us who care about freedom and limited government should thank the House by organizing our friends and neighbors in support of this legislation. Call your representative today and urge him to vote for the Class Action Fairness Act.