Aside from President Obama going after patent trolls, what is going on at the federal level on legal reform?
Recently, U.S. Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa and Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas introduced legislation to reduce abusive lawsuits that plague the United States legal system. The Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act (LARA) imposes mandatory sanctions for lawyers who file meritless suits in federal court. If passed, LARA would restore the mandatory sanctions that were removed in 1993 and hold attorneys accountable for lawsuit abuse.
Senator Grassley stated that, “law abiding Americans with a legitimate legal grievance are entitled to their day in court. But unscrupulous attorneys who file frivolous lawsuits stand in the way of valid claims. Frivolous lawsuits need to be weeded out of the system. Putting the brakes on frivolous lawsuits that damage the economy and clog the legal system will go a long way towards balancing the scales of justice, upholding the rule of law, and improving the public good.”
Every year billions of dollars are wasted on abusive lawsuits. These suits hurt the economy and costs jobs, as the money spent fighting them could be better spent on hiring new employees or expanding production. In fact, the direct cost of American tort litigation exceeds $250 billion a year.
In the Senate, LARA is cosponsored by Senators Tom Coburn and Marco Rubio. In the House of Representatives, the bill is cosponsored by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, along with Representatives Trent Franks, Jason Chaffetz, Blake Farenthold and George Holding. To see a full text of the legislation you can go here.
We encourage you to contact Senator Boxer, Senator Feinstein and your local Member of Congress and encourage them to support this important legislation. You can also access reach your local leaders here. With your support and with the support of these legislators, we can reduce lawsuit abuse, which can help create jobs and improve the economy.