Frivolous Lawsuits Target Of New Congressional Caucus

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Bob Goodlatte, VA, and Dan Boren, OK are metformin hydrochloride two names that don’t get as much play in Congressional news as an Issa or Ryan for example, but it appears that they are listening to businesses and people who have been long complaining about an issue that constantly costs a tremendous amounts of money – not just to the business owner, but eventually the consumer.

Costs that are incurred by any business owner in defending their company legally are still a part of the liabilities of a company that will get passed along to the consumer, and on a much higher scale to the lower end of the income scale than the upper.

For every frivolous get rich quick lawsuit that someone pursues for ill intent (please note – this is not about lawsuits for real issues of neglect or harm), the cost of a product escalates even when the decision goes the company’s way. The cost of blue jeans going up 2.00 per pair will certainly affect the person paying 14.95 at Wal Mart more than most people who routinely toss down 80 dollars for a pair of stylishly ripped up, stained or bleached jeans.

If companies, especially in the health field,  are pursued for non-existent reasons or for purely pissed off, bad service, mean spirited vengeance when there are no real grounds for a suit,  there is nothing many companies can do but settle out of court to avoid those $300.00/hour or more attorney’s fees.

There is no mechanism to prevent, or at least dissuade or slow down,  the people who wish to take advantage of the system.

Enter Reps. Goodlatte and Boren:

The U.S. Congress is currently debating many legal reform issues that affect our civil justice system, including medical malpractice reform, venue reform, patent reform, and federal pleading standards.  The Congressional Civil Justice Caucus will serve as a forum for discussing and debating these issues and their effect on our national economy.

“Our nation’s civil justice system has a direct impact on America’s competitiveness in the global marketplace,” said Congressman Goodlatte, Co-Chair of the Congressional Civil Justice Caucus.  “Excessive and frivolous litigation and inefficient rules and procedures drain U.S. companies of desperately-needed resources and hinder job growth and innovation.”

American businesses are being forced to devote more and more of their vital resources to defending frivolous lawsuits. Recent estimates indicate that the cost of the U.S. tort liability system as a percentage of GDP is more than double the average cost of any other industrialized nation.  America’s businesses and citizens alike need a well-functioning civil justice system that provides for the efficient and timely redress of legitimate disputes without allowing opportunistic parties to game the system.

The goals of the Congressional Civil Justice Caucus include promoting a civil justice system that respects the rule of law and advances the United States’ leadership in innovation, job creation and economic growth, advancing the public’s understanding of how civil justice issues affect the free enterprise system, America’s global competitiveness and businesses large and small, providing a bipartisan forum for discussion and debate of policy issues related to our nation’s civil justice system, and promoting the education of Members of Congress and their staff on civil justice policy issues.

We’ll be discussing a couple of different ways in depth on how to prevent just such a problem, with the eye to presenting common sense legislation in simple English for all to understand to these Congressmen for their input.

Please stay tuned for our follow up articles on the subject!

Thanks to Bob Goodlatte for the above information!

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