This Bud's for You

Bud Cramer was one of 16 Democratic House members who voted for the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 1994 earlier this week. The final margin of the House vote was 229-174, with most Republicans voting for the bill and most Democrats voting against.

The bill does two major things: 1) restores attorney accountability for frivolous lawsuits, and 2) acts to prevent "forum-shopping". It accomplishes #1 by ensuring that attorneys who file frivolous lawsuits must pay the legal costs of the defendants subjected to such lawsuits. It accomplishes #2 by tightening rules for the jurisdiction in which a lawsuit may be filed.

(The text of the bill can be viewed by searching on "Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act" or "HR 4571" at http://thomas.loc.gov.)

Now, the bill goes on to the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Senator Sessions is a member. I don't know that he has announced a position yet, but I'm almost certain he will support the bill. Senator Shelby, who is certainly no enemy to trial lawyers, I'm not so sure about.