U.S. Congressman Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.), a member of the House Committee on Small Business, voted last week in favor of The Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act, legislation introduced back in February by Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) to reduce the amount of frivolous lawsuits which tie up the nation’s legal system and cost American businesses billions of dollars each year.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 241-185.
Essentially, the bill will require courts to impose sanctions on parties that violate the existing prohibition on filing frivolous lawsuits, establishing mandatory sanctions as penalty for filing a frivolous lawsuit, including reimbursements for attorney’s fees and other related expenses. Currently, courts may impose sanctions at their own discretion on parties who bring frivolous lawsuits, but are not required to do so.
“I supported this legislation to discourage frivolous lawsuits, which cost individuals and businesses millions of dollars each year and countless hours of lost productivity,” Hanna said in a statement following the vote. “Every citizen has a constitutional right to counsel and the ability to protect his or her rights in court. However, as our society has become more litigious, frivolous lawsuits have imposed severe burdens on innocent individuals and small businesses and actually hurt those seeking legitimate redress.”
“Lawsuit abuse is common in America because the lawyers who bring these frivolous cases have everything to gain and nothing to lose,” Smith said when he introduced the bill. “Lawyers can file meritless lawsuits, and defendants are faced with the choice of years of litigation, high court costs and attorneys’ fees or a settlement out of court. This is legalized extortion. The Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act restores accountability to our legal system by imposing mandatory sanctions on attorneys who file worthless lawsuits.”