The federal government and the states each play an important role in addressing the problem of lawsuit abuse. While for the past several years most legal reform activity has occurred at the state level, with states enacting several effective, high-profile reforms, many important legal reforms have also been enacted and implemented at the federal level. With the changing political landscape, an increase in legal reform action at the federal level can be expected.
Congress is currently considering a number of important legal reform proposals that would help restore balance to America's civil justice system. These include asbestos litigation reform, mandatory sanctions for filling frivolous litigation, protecting innocent parties from being unfairly or fradulently joines into a lawsuit, class action and multi-district litigation reforms, increased certainty where the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is concerned, and reform of over-broad laws that threaten individuals and business with criminal prosecution absent any criminal intent, among others.
In addition to these proactive legal reform efforts, there is a need to defend against efforts by the plaintiffs’ bar to expand liability in Congress, federal courts, and regulatory agencies.
This paper documents compelling examples of over-enforcement abuses, and offers details of the wide-ranging and interrelated ways government enforcement actions impact American businesses. Read More
This report analyzes asbestos bankruptcy trust claims forms from the recent Garlock bankruptcy to address patterns of inconsistent and fraudulent claiming from one trust to another. Read More
The Food Court: Trends in Food and Beverage Class Action Litigation
Covering the Contractors: The Current State of the Government Contractor Defense
Enforcement Gone Amok: The Many Faces of Over-Enforcement in the United States
DOJ’S New Threshold for “Cooperation”: Challenges Posed by the Yates Memo and USAM Revisions
Insights & Inconsistencies: Lessons from the Garlock Trust Claims
The Waiting Game: Delay and Non-Disclosure of Asbestos Trust Claims
Constitutional Constraints: Provisions Limiting Excessive Government Fines
The Trial Lawyer Underground: Covertly Lobbying the Executive Branch
Enforcement Slush Funds: Funding Federal and State Agencies with Enforcement Proceeds
The FIRREA Revival: Dredging Up Solutions to the Financial Crisis
Unprincipled Prosecution: Abuse of Power and Profiteering in the New 'Litigation Swarm'
A Roadmap for Reform: Lessons from Eight Years of the Class Action Reform Act
Fixing the False Claims Act: The Case for Compliance-Focused Reforms
Federalism, The Framers, and Federal Legal Reform: Setting the Record Straight
"Drop the Climate Lawsuit;" What To Make Of DOJ's 2018 False Claims Act Report"... Read More
"One Year Later, NYC's Climate Lawsuit Wastes Taxpayer Money to Boost de Blasio's Credentials"... Read More
Legal Newsline reports in Forbes that the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) recent move to dismiss 11 whistleblower, or qui tam, lawsuits under the False Claims Act may be a shift towards an administration strategy to "rein in trial lawyers who are using a federal whistleblower law to seek millions of dollars."... Read More
It won't be long before Major League Baseball's spring training is in the air, and teams flock to Florida to begin tuning up for the regular season...... Read More
Top Securities News of 2018... Read More
The companies in opioid-related litigation accused the plaintiffs' lawyers of "flagrantly" violating restrictions on information disclosure during a "60 Minutes" interview, Law360 reports.... Read More
"Fighting a Tort Plague;" U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Case on M&A Lawsuit Standards... Read More
Kevin LaCroix of D&O Diary said that securities lawsuit filings "remained well above historical patterns" in 2018 and were "significantly inflated by the number of federal court merger objection lawsuit filings."... Read More
Illinois Judge Rules for Google in State Biometric Data Lawsuit... Read More
A London judge rejected an attempt by litigation funder Vannin Capital to collect the £14 million ($17.7 million) they believed they are owed from funding a lawsuit against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Law360 reports.... Read More
