Bill

Oppose H.R. 985 the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017

Oppose H.R. 985 The Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 Advocacy Letter – 03/08/17 Source: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Recipient: U.S. House of Representatives On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 national advocacy organizations charged by its diverse membership to promote and protect the rights of all …


GOP Pushes Bill Inhibiting Americans From Filing Class-Action Lawsuits Against Large Corporations

In recent years, companies have increasingly relied on legal fine print to avoid the lawsuits, inserting language into contracts requiring disputes to be settled by private arbitrators, not the courts. In the final years of the Obama administration, regulators moved to limit those arbitration clauses, proposing rules that ban them from student loan agreements and some financial services. “If …


Dropped Gun Store Lawsuit Helps Bring Va. Bill to Protect Protesters

The lawsuit against 64 people who spoke in opposition to Nova Armory, the Lyon Park gun store, helped provide the impetus for a state bill to protect protesters from similar court action. House Bill 1941, introduced by southwest Virginia Del. Terry Kilgore (R-1) and co-patroned by local Del.


Unfairness in Class Action: A New Attack on Civil Rights – Center for American Progress

President Donald Trump’s budget proposal may eliminate the single greatest funder of civil legal aid in the United States, the Legal Services Corporation—a long-standing goal of Vice President Mike Pence. At the same time, Congress is working to block Americans from seeking justice on their own with the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017. This bill was drafted to address an …


Week Ahead: Senate Takes Aim at Obama-Era ‘Blacklisting’ Rule

Senate Republicans plan to deliver a final blow Monday to the Labor Department’s so-called blacklisting rule. The Senate will vote on whether to overturn the controversial Obama-era regulation through the Congressional Review Act, which empowers Republicans to roll back recently published rules without Democratic support. The House has already voted to strike down the rule.


Drivers Who Hit Protesters Blocking Road Could Be Immune From Lawsuit

A motorist who accidentally drives a car into street protesters could be immune from civil liability under a bill being considered in the Rhode Island House of Representatives. Rep. Justin Price, an Exeter Republican, introduced legislation on Wednesday that says drivers won’t be liable for injuring protesters if they’re blocking traffic in a public right-of-way. The immunity would only benefit …


Missouri Lawmakers Call for Restrictions in Lawsuits

Missourians who sue a company, employer or physician will face more obstacles if a slew of bills making their way through the Missouri General Assembly become law. Bills introduced in both the Missouri House and Senate, if passed, would result in significant changes to how and where class action lawsuits can be filed, the amount of damages a plaintiff may pursue and who could …


Republican Proposal Would Make Trump University Lawsuits “Almost Impossible”

A lawyer who led two lawsuits against Trump University, settled for $21 million just weeks after Donald Trump’s election victory, says the suits would have been “almost impossible” to pursue under a law currently being pushed by Republicans in Congress. Helen Zeldes, a founding partner of ZHE Law, investigated and initiated one of two class-action lawsuits against Trump University, along with a …


New Bill Could Be a Game-Changer for Mulit District Litigations and Class Actions

The Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017, introduced in the U.S. House and approved by the Judiciary Committee last week, proposes far-reaching changes to the rules governing multidistrict litigations (MDLs), removals and class actions. Sponsored by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va), the bill’s stated purpose is to …


Consumer Activists Decry Bill to Limit Class-Action Lawsuits

Plaintiffs’ lawyers and consumer-rights advocates are raising alarm over a new bill headed to the House floor that they say would severely limit the ability of citizens to join in lawsuits to fight grievances in court. The bill, dubbed the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017, is the second attempt by Congress in recent years to rein in class-action lawsuits, which are used to …