Chuck Grassley
Frivolous lawsuits that clutter the legal system and cost businesses billions would be curbed under bicameral legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) on Monday.
The Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act (LARA) would hold lawyers accountable for filing meritless lawsuits in federal court through mandatory sanctions.
“Our American legal system is designed to be a tool for justice, and justice delayed is justice denied,” Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said. “However, too many baseless claims, often filed by unscrupulous lawyers, are clogging our legal system, increasing costs and delaying swift resolution of genuine legal grievances.”
Small businesses, often the targets of frivolous lawsuits, are burdened with unnecessary legal expenses.
“This bill helps to rebalance the scales of justice by weeding our legal system of frivolous claims and deterring lawyers from engaging in abusive and meritless litigation practices,” Grassley said.
The measure would reinstate sanctions for violations of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which originally outlined sanctions for frivolous lawsuits. It would also ensure judges impose sanctions, including attorney’s fees and costs incurred by the victims.
Additionally, LARA would rollback 1993 amendments to Rule 11 that enabled attorneys to avoid sanctions by withdrawing suits within 21 days of a motion for sanctions being served.
Smith, the former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said LARA would prevent thousands of frivolous lawsuits from being filed in federal court.
“Lawsuits have been filed against the Weather Channel for failing to accurately predict storms, against television shows people claimed were too scary, and against fast-food companies because inactive children gained weight,” Smith said. “These types of absurd cases wrongly cost innocent individuals and business owners their reputations and their livelihoods. LARA requires lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits to pay the attorneys’ fees and court costs of innocent defendants.”
U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and an original cosponsor of LARA, said the lawsuits are complicated but the bill is simple.
“Thousands of frivolous lawsuits have no place in our legal system, and the true victims are often small businesses or individuals who cannot afford to fight these claims,” Goodlatte said. “Members of both the House and Senate have been trying to make our legal system work properly for the American people for years, and now we are taking action to get truly meaningless lawsuits out of our courts.”