TJ Cox: “The provisions of Dodd-Domenici on specific pleading are a heck of a lot tougher than what we have in our bill because…”

“The provisions of Dodd-Domenici on specific pleading are a heck of a lot tougher than what we have in our bill because over in the other body they have recognized the problems that are created when someone launches a lawsuit which can take years and years and consume a whole lot of money on both sides with just vague conclusory allegations. We have heard some horror stories, or not really horror stories because they never happened, but we have heard horror future fiction about what would have happened in old cases that were successful if the new rule had been put in place. We are told, for example, in one case they had to amend their pleading six times. Well, right now the current rules are sufficiently lax that nobody bothers a great deal when they file the complaint. In the very abusive cases we know they just roll them right off the word processor. The worst that can happen to them after all, since one can amend one's complaint nearly an infinite number of times, is that some judge will make them go back and amend it.”