Orrin Hatch: “today I introduce the Civil Justice Fairness Act of 1997. Last Congress, I introduced a similar bill that, had it been…”

“today I introduce the Civil Justice Fairness Act of 1997. Last Congress, I introduced a similar bill that, had it been enacted, would have granted significant relief from litigation abuses to individuals, consumers, small businesses and others. Unfortunately, given President Clinton's repeated vetoes of litigation reform measures in the 104th Congress, it was clear that we would be unable to enact more broad-reaching civil justice reform. This Congress, I urge my colleagues to revisit the important issue of litigation reform. Product liability reform remains badly needed, as do the more comprehensive reforms of the civil litigation system embodied in my civil justice reform bill, the Civil Justice Fairness Act of 1997. Americans in Utah and every other State overwhelmingly agree that there is a crying need for reform of our civil justice system. They are sick and tired of the abuses of our system, and are fed up with million dollar awards for scratched paint jobs, spilled coffee, and other minor harms. The system fails to deliver justice in far too many cases. Success for plaintiffs can depend more on chance than the merits of the case, and defendants may find themselves forced to settle for significant sums in circumstances in which they have done little or no wrong, simply due to the high litigation costs involved in defending against a weak or frivolous lawsuit. I have gone through the litany of problems with our civil justice system time and time again.…”