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Washington,
D.C., October 25, 2005—The
Lawsuit Abuse Reform
Coalition (LARC), since forming this spring, has
experienced a growth spurt that has quadrupled the size of the
coalition to more than 320 member organizations. LARC, which
represents millions of employers and employees, was formed to
support passage of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2005
(LARA), H.R. 420, which is scheduled for a vote in the U.S.
House of Representatives this week.
LARA will help
businesses that have been or are potential victims of some of
the worst abuses of our civil justice system—frivolous lawsuits
and forum shopping. It would deter the filing of frivolous
lawsuits by placing the cost of defending frivolous claims on
the lawyers who bring them. LARA also would put an end to forum
shopping by properly limiting the filing of civil tort claims to
places where plaintiffs live or were hurt, or in the
jurisdiction of the defendant’s principal place of business.
“Every minute and
every dollar spent on frivolous lawsuits rob business owners of
the opportunity to achieve business goals, which is why this
legislation has such strong and growing support from a broad
spectrum of businesses throughout the United States,” said LARC
Chair and President of the
American
Tort Reform Association Tiger Joyce.
“The threat of costly
and lengthy litigation forces businesses to settle frivolous
claims that could potentially put them out of business,” said
Dan Danner, Executive Vice President—Public Policy for the
National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). In
September, NFIB’s Research Foundation released a report based on
a survey of their more than 600,000 members that revealed:
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The median total
cost to settle a legal dispute is about $5,000.
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The median time
between engaging a lawyer and resolution of a legal dispute
was four to five months, although 14 percent of those
responding said it took more than a year to settle their
problem and 17 percent waited for more than two years.
“We live in a country
where the legal system is out of whack,” added Jay Timmons,
Senior Vice President for Policy at the National Association of
Manufacturers. “Our costs—even as a percentage of GDP—are twice
as high as the average of other industrialized countries.
Ridding the country of frivolous lawsuits will not harm those
who have truly been harmed nor those innocent parties who are
sued by unscrupulous plaintiffs’ lawyers.”
“Lawsuit abuse is a
drag on our economy that threatens employers’ very existence and
raises prices for all consumers,” said U.S. Chamber Institute
for Legal Reform President Lisa Rickard. “Now more than ever,
Congress should be taking steps to defend our economy and
safeguard American jobs by passing LARA.”
LARA was favorably
reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary May 25 by a
vote of 19-11. LARA was reintroduced January 26 in the U.S.
House of Representatives by Representative Lamar Smith (TX).
Last year, the House passed the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of
2004 (H.R. 4571) on September 14, 2004, by a bipartisan vote of
229-174.
For more information
on LARA and why it is needed, plus a list of LARC members,
please visit
www.LawsuitAbuseReform.org.
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