April 2008 Archives

In just five working days, 42 class action lawsuits were filed in California state and federal courts in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego, San Mateo, Oakland/Alameda and Orange County areas, class action defense attorney Michael J. Hassen reports on the Class Action Defense Blog.

"Class actions alleging employment-related claims typically top the list of new class action cases by a wide margin," Hassen wrote.

The report found that from April 4 though April 10, 61 percent of the new filings were labor law class actions. Nineteen new class actions were filed alleging employment-related claims. Also filed were class actions alleging violations of the state's unfair competition law, and class actions alleging violations of federal securities laws.

Hassen provides weekly, unofficial summaries of the legal categories for the new class action lawsuits filed "to assist class action defense attorneys anticipate the types of cases against which they will have to defend in California."

The report includes only the categories that include 10 percent or more of the class action filings during the preceding week.

Eighty-two percent of likely voters said they prefer arbitration to litigation as a means to settle a serious dispute with a company, according to a just-released survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform.

The poll also found that 71 percent of voters oppose efforts by Congress to remove arbitration agreements from consumer contracts.

The national issues mirror those found in California, which faces repeated attempts by the plaintiffs' bar to limit the right of Californians to agree to resolve their future disputes through arbitration.

Assembly Bill 2947 is the latest attempt. It would prohibit voluntary arbitration agreements between elders and their long-term care facilities.

The bill, authored by Assemblyman Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park), would even retroactively invalidate existing arbitration agreements, driving more cases into the state's already overburdened court system. It passed out of the Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee on April 8, 2008, and was referred back to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

"Nothing undercuts the personal injury lawyers' attempt to define themselves as 'consumer' attorneys than their campaign against arbitration," said John H. Sullivan, president of the Civil Justice Association of California.

"They don't seem to mind hanging thousands of people out to dry without fair, lower-cost arbitration just so they can wait for their big jackpot contingency fee lawsuit," he added.

An Investor's Business Daily article applauds California's 33-year-old healthcare reforms and urges other states to take a cue to reduce the cost of their medical malpractice premiums, attract new doctors, and increase the quality of healthcare.

David Ridenour, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy Research, writes that some greed-filled lawsuits "play a major role in our nation's ever-escalating health care costs."

"Lawsuits that unnecessarily increase the liability risk of healthcare providers only tend to increase costs and add to the current crisis," he writes, citing as an example the case of a physician who sued the Charleston (W.V.) Area Medical Center after it refused to recognize his medical malpractice self-insurance plan. The physician was awarded $25 million from local jurors.

"With America's healthcare increases far outpacing the cost-of-living index, West Virginia and other 'judicial hellhole' states should wake up and take a cue from California and Texas," Ridenour concludes.

Bill Lerach, Dickie Scruggs and Melvyn Weiss were once called the nation's most successful trial lawyers, a Washington Post editorial states on April 9. "Today," it continues, "all three can simply be called crooks."

The editorial notes the three attorneys' successes and downfalls, from Weiss' guilty plea and $10 million fine, to Lerach's yearlong-jail sentence. Both men pleaded guilty to paying kickbacks to plaintiffs they recruited to file class action lawsuits against companies. Scruggs, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a Mississippi judge, faces a five-year prison term and a $250,000 fine.

The Washington Post says what is needed now is a "sober discussion about how best to achieve a fairer, more balanced legal system through comprehensive tort reform."

"Such a system would not be lopsided but would shield businesses from legal blackmail, just as it would protect the rights of legitimate plaintiffs to win compensation from negligent businesses that caused them real harm. Smart and ethical businesspeople and lawyers -- and yes, there are many who fit the bill -- would be wise to start working together to craft such a fix."