Political Quotes

“The reality is that the current screening practices for certifying which individuals may file a class action lawsuit are working. Currently, plaintiffs must meet, as I said earlier, rigorous threshold standards to proceed with a class action. In fact, a 2008 study by the Federal Judicial Center found that only 25 percent of diversity actions filed as class actions resulted in class certification motions. In the cases I presided in, there were less than 25 percent. 9 percent settled and none went to trial. Why must we begin this new year with yet another piece of legislation that is a solution in search of a problem? In short, this ill-conceived and unneeded bill unnecessarily circumvents the Rules Enabling Act, the process established by the Congress to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, making it more difficult for large numbers of injured parties to effectively seek redress in court and would place additional burdens on an already overloaded court system. I should add that the Judicial Conference, the policymaking body for the Federal courts of this country, is currently considering changes to rule 23, which governs determination of whether class certification is appropriate, and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear cases where there are questions surrounding class certification, including Tyson Foods v. Bouaphakeo. It would behoove us to allow these processes for examining and revising procedural and evidentiary rules to work as Congress intended.…”