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
In an 8-1 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court sent a case regarding the fairness of cy pres settlements back to the Ninth Circuit, Law360 reports.... Read More
The rising pace of private securities class actions could present a threat to the health of U.S. capital markets, while the ongoing wave of municipality lawsuits stands in the way of global settlements and undermines the authority of lawmakers and state attorneys general. White papers covered in this edition of the ILR Research Review detail the causes and current state of these litigation trends, along with a full suite of solutions to address them.... Read More
Businesses Call for Oversight of Proxy Firms; "The Post-Cyan Spike In State Securities Act Filings"... Read More
Texas lawmakers have filed legislation to discourage the state's judges from using the American Law Institute's Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance, the Pennsylvania Record reports.... Read More
Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Has Entered an Era of Transparency in Incentives and Rewards... Read More
For the first time, multidistrict litigation makes up more than half of the federal civil caseload, according to a new Lawyers for Civil Justice (LCJ) study profiled by Law360.... Read More
Virginia doesn't want one of Bloomberg's environmental prosecutors sent to its AG's office... Read More
Earlier this week, Georgia's Supreme Court ruled that an insurer can't be sued for failing to settle a claim against its policyholder within policy limits unless the insurer received a valid settlement offer, Law360 reports.... Read More
Fraud and abuse have become entrenched in the nation's asbestos bankruptcy trust system. Lawmakers must act to fix it.... Read More
Ephemeral messaging has completely changed how companies communicate around the world. These apps are faster, easier and can be more secure than email. But since 2017, companies have had to wonder what's up with using WhatsApp (and other similar platforms) while cooperating with Department of Justice (DOJ) Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations. ... Read More
