Patrick Leahy: “I know class action issues have been raised by Senators Kohl, Feinstein, Schumer, Dodd, Carper, Landrieu, and others.…”

“I know class action issues have been raised by Senators Kohl, Feinstein, Schumer, Dodd, Carper, Landrieu, and others. While I may disagree with them on some parts of this, I do so respectfully because I know how hard they have worked. In the last Congress, they were able to negotiate some procedural improvements. They reined in some of the worst aspects of previous class action bills. One improvement was to restrict the use of worthless coupon settlements. I strongly support this improvement, which is a targeted provision that goes after a real class action abuse, not one that is just made up by special interests. Unfortunately, there are other aspects that fail to achieve their intended goals. For example, two narrow exceptions have been negotiated to allow a few local controversies to remain in State court. But the exceptions to removal to Federal court touch on only a thin sliver of the class action cases this bill would affect--only when plaintiffs and primary defendants are from the same State--and even then it will do more harm than good with the complicated formula that will cause costly and time-consuming litigation. So this just increases the cost and increases the litigation. Another provision seeks to reduce the delay plaintiffs can experience when a case is removed to Federal court by setting a time limit for appeals of remand orders. But no measure is included in the bill to set a timeline for the district court to rule on the actual remand motion.”