Bob Goodlatte: “We have limited those attorney's fees so they can not exceed the amount the plaintiff is paying, or the defendant, if…”

“We have limited those attorney's fees so they can not exceed the amount the plaintiff is paying, or the defendant, if the defendant is the loser, cannot exceed the amount you are paying your own lawyer, so you cannot have a deep pocket come in and overload the costs by bringing in four lawyers to try the case. Also, we have limited it to just 10 days before trial through the trial, so a party cannot overload the other party with discovery, whether it is necessary or unnecessary, and then collect attorney's fees for all that discovery that was done. This is a very reasonable way to impose some risk on the parties in cases, to encourage settlement and reduce the number of frivolous, fraudulent, and I would say to the gentleman from California [Mr. Berman], nonmeritorious cases.”