California Legislature Kills Three Bills Targeting Lawsuit Abuse

March 28, 2008. Three bills related to class action reform and reform of frivolous claims have been killed in Sacramento. They never made it out of committee. San Diego Assemblyman Martin Garrick served as a temporary appointee to the Assembly Judiciary Committee for the hearing this week. This is what he had to say about the outcome:

“AB 1891 and AB 1905 are good, common-sense bills that address serious concerns about the fairness of legal proceedings in California. The committee’s decision to encourage frivolity and inequity in California’s courts is more than troubling, it is very disappointing.”

John Merchant, Chairman of California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse said, “The idea of change is sweeping across our nation, but apparently it hasn’t yet made it into the halls of the state capitol. This is yet another instance of personal injury lawyer money overshadowing the public good. Our legislature should be ashamed of itself.”

Here is a summary the 3 bills that were killed in committee:

AB 1891: This bill would have allowed courts to carve frivolous claims out of a lawsuit but let people continue to pursue claims with merit. Currently, there is no real deterrent for the inclusion of frivolous claims within a legitimate lawsuit, and certainly no basis for removing such language without throwing out the whole case. AB 1891 would have accomplished that through giving judges the authority both to order payment of attorney’s fees for frivolous or delaying tactics and to remove frivolous portions of lawsuits.

AB 1905: This bill would have given defendants the right to appeal class certification decisions. Current law only allows the plaintiff to appeal the denial of class certification. The defendant can only appeal the judge's ruling after the class action lawsuit is complete and the defendant has lost - a long and costly endeavor. This bill would have brought fundamental fairness to class action law.

SB 1202: Currently, class action law does little to encourage plaintiffs’ attorneys to make every effort to contact all people named as class members in a lawsuit. As a result, much of the money or other compensation awarded to plaintiffs in class action lawsuits goes unclaimed due to a range of factors, including awards too small to entice action and awards people don’t even know they are entitled to. However, plaintiffs’ attorneys still receive their entire awarded amount, regardless of how many class members come forward to claim their awards. SB 1202 would have helped to ensure that class action law benefits those that it was written for, not plaintiffs’ attorneys.

What You Can Do

State Senator Tom McClintock has introduced a bill in the state legislature that needs your support. SB 1766 would help businesses and the disabled alike by ensuring compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) while discouraging abuse of the law by either party.

Current law allows a plaintiff to bring forward an ADA lawsuit without even giving the defendant a chance to fix apparent violations, even if the violations were unknown to the business owner. This has led to so-called "drive-by lawsuits," whereby professional plaintiffs make a living by suing small businesses and pressuring them into settling rather than bearing the costs of going to court. Many small businesses have closed their doors as a result.

SB 1766 would give a business or property owner 60 days to make or begin to make necessary improvements to become fully compliant before a lawsuit can proceed.

This bill will be heard in committee later this month. Let Senator McClintock know you support his bill, so he can show legislators there is widespread support!

Click here to view the text of SB 1766.

Here are three ways to contact Senator Tom McClintock:

Email: senator.mcclintock@sen.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 651-4019
Fax: (916) 324-7544

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