Class Action Litigation Act Of 2017

Civil actions protect individuals rather than the public. Civil actions protect the people, the injury

Plaintiff is informed and believes and thereon alleges that each of the Defendants was the agent and employee of each of the remaining Defendants and was at all times acting within the purpose and scope of such agency and employment.

The movie a Civil Action covers the Woburn Case which was Anne Anderson and other small families who decided to sue the companies Beatrice Foods and W.R. Grace. The reason for Anderson and the other families to decide to sue was because they believe the companies dumping of poisonous chemicals was the reason to their children’s leukemia deaths. However, when they reached out to Jan Schlichtmann to handle their case he was not the most positive on wanting to help them, “Ms. Anderson, our firm is very small, three attorneys that's it, which means we can only take on so many cases at once and we have to be very careful on the ones we do take because we can't afford to lose, our clients pay nothing, we pay everything, and the only we get paid back

Plaintiffs contend the forum selection clause limits them to Virginia state court, where a class action remedy would be unavailable to them; this, they contend, violates California public policy favoring consumer class actions and renders the forum selection clause unenforceable.” (Doe 1 v AOL LLC, 2009) The district court granted AOL’s motion and dismissed the action.

A man in Broward County is suing liquor giants Bacardi and Coors, among others, for directing their marketing towards minors. In his suit, the man is described "as a parent whose children ‘have consumed one or more of the defendants ' products while still underage" (Danner, P., 2005). The lawyers have obviously decided this sounds like a good lottery case, and are trying to get the case certified as a class action that way they can offer themselves to any parents or guardians of minors who purchased alcoholic beverages from1982 to present (Danner, P., 2005). The more people they get, the more they will receive in fees and this doesn 't have anything to do with them offering themselves, just to see justice done.

Identified in “General Business Organizations” and has been a successful group in Texas since 1994 is the Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR). Business leaders formed this group and were determined to change what they perceived as “Texas’ Wild West Litigation Environment” by changing the state’s tort laws. Torts are wrongful acts; in the Texans for Lawsuit Reform, taking away the right of a citizen who loses in a civil lawsuit can be forced to pay an extra amount as punishment. The Texans for Lawsuit reform is a volunteered-led organization that “seeks to create a civil justice system that discourages non-meritorious lawsuits or outrageous claims for damages” (votesmart.org). TLRPAC, which stands for Texans for Lawsuit Reform Political Action Committee

The first case that is discussed is Liebeck v. McDonald’s Rests or “Hot Coffee” as it is well known for. Stella Liebeck suffered immense burn damage on her thighs when a coffee from McDonald spilled over her legs. She needed a surgical operation called skin graft, where a piece of healthy skin is transplanted to a new site on the body, and other medical assistance that reach over $100,000. She and her family tried to reach McDonals to get a settlement for the damages, but was welcomed with denial and lack of cooperation in settlements and coverage for medical expenses, so the family decided to sue the company for gross negligence.

Since about the mid-late 1980’s many states have implemented and enforced statutes to limit tort lawsuits. Tort reform is the political term for redefining tort laws and reducing tort litigation, damages, compensation, and even amounts awarded (Quinn). The reformation of the nation’s tort system, or changing laws throughout a state dealing with injuries to a person or their property have done a lot more harm than good for consumers. While each tort reform law varies depending on the state, they all have one of the following goals in mind: “(1) to make it more difficult for injured people to file a lawsuit, (2) to make it more difficult for injured people to obtain a jury trial, (3) to place limits on the amount of money injured people receive in a lawsuit (Lane).”

On May 8, 2013, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff issued a two-page ruling that dismissed the claims in the lawsuit seeking penalties under the False Claims Act, but allowed the claims that sought penalties under Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) to advance. The relevance of the False Claims Act and the FIRREA Law will be further explored in this case. (Viswanatha, Aruna, 2013)

Thank you for contacting me about H.R. 1927, the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act. I appreciate your thoughts on the issue.

     The legal system is an essential element in the successful operation of this country. It is a system that is utilized every day, by every type of person, from the average blue-collar worker to the average Wall Street broker. There is a multitude of ways that the legal system is put to use. One such way is the class action lawsuit. A Civil Action, by Jonathan Harr, uses the account of a single case, Anne Anderson, et al., v. W.R. Grace & Co., et al, to illustrate the power and importance of class action lawsuits in the civil justice system.

A U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday that a proposed wage and hour class action against a California staffing agency would need to be taken to California state court, as the plaintiff’s claims could not be weighed according to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). The three-judge 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel voted unanimously that a lower court made a mistake when they found plaintiff, Porfiria Yocupicio’s, suit filed in 2014 against defendant, Arch Resources Group, eligible to be removed to federal court due to her claims adding up to over $5 million. The court of appeals found that the suit, filed under the California Labor Code Private Attorney General Act, could not be deemed a class claim for purposes of determining federal

It is unknown at this time, if there will be any appeals of the recent decision or additions lawsuits to

“The essential purpose and most basic principle of tort law is that the plaintiff must be placed in the position he or she would have been in absent the defendant’s fault or negligence.” It is impossible to fully restore the plaintiff, as he will never be fully restored. However, compensation is the best way to put the plaintiff back into his original position. Even though most resources of the tort system are spent on dealing with claims, it is a very slow process as it is so complex because it involves many parties. It is often time consuming and expensive to file a claim, making it very cost-ineffective. The increased involvement of insurance companies has made it even more time consuming, with the introduction of their own

Whilst the Court advocates for high level of transparency as well as substantive fairness test, it sets unrealistic threshold for the consumer who is to be protected. The apparently high level of protection is severely circumscribed by the exaggerated expectations of consumer’s behaviour. The “average” consumer who the Court intends to protect is “reasonably well informed and reasonably observant and circumspect” . It is this consumer who needs to understand the contract terms and foresee