Last month the Hartford Courant editorially endorsed the Class Action Fairness Act: “No one in Congress is proposing doing away with class-action lawsuits. Rather, this overdue legislation would curtail some of the worst abuses. Legislators have debated the issue long enough. There’s no good reason to wait another year to adopt this important reform.” (“Stop Class Action Abuses”, Aug. 22, no longer online). This weekend the New York Daily News takes a sharper tone: “Who could be against this rational reform? The trial lawyers’ lobby, that’s who. The sharks are not about to surrender their feeding grounds. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton could have a huge impact on the matter, but so far both appear happy in the role of remora.” (“End lawyers’ shopping spree” (editorial), New York Daily News, Sept. 28).

Notwithstanding Schumer’s and Clinton’s stance, Business Week notes that the bill has won significant support among moderate-to-liberal Democrats (Lorraine Woellert, “Tort Reform Even a Democrat Could Love”, Jun. 2). A study from the Illinois Civil Justice League finds that, contrary to widely repeated reports, it is untrue that the state courts will lose jurisdiction over the great majority of the class actions they now hear. Meanwhile, Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) has been promoting a watered-down alternative to the legislation, but last week Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Ia.) blasted the Breaux alternative as a “poison pill” which would doom class action reform efforts (Mark A. Hofmann, “Grassley blasts competing class-action reform plan”, Business Insurance, Sept. 23). (Earlier editorial (Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, etc.): see our Jun. 25 report.)

Filed under: Class Action Fairness Act, class actions, Illinois