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1 (March 12, 2002)

handle is hein.crs/crsuntaaarg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS20987 Updated March 12, 2002 Class Actions and Proposed Reform in the 107th Congress: Class Action Fairness Act of 2002 Paul Starett Wallace, Jr. Specialist in American Public Law American Law Division Summary The principal provisions of H.R. 2341 are concentrated on what sponsors characterize as the more serious abuses of the class action process. These provisions reminiscent of proposals in the last Congress, are intended to make class action procedures more responsive to business community concerns and to provide additional protections for consumers.1 The bill reflects a preference for class actions to be adjudicated in federal courts and would enlarge U.S. district courts original jurisdiction over class actions with claims aggregating $2,000,000 or more (even if each of the members of the class had not sustained damages in excess of $75,000 as is now required). Consumer protection features would include, inter alia: (1) notices to class members written in Plain English, (2) judicial scrutiny of settlements in which class members receive minimal benefits or actually incur losses, (3) elimination of inequitable discrimination in favor of class agents at the expense of other class members, (4) prompt consideration of interstate class actions, and (5) application of the principles of federal diversity jurisdiction to interstate class actions. Congressional Intent The provisions of H.R. 2341, as introduced by Congressman Goodlatte on June 27, 2001, are designed to provide class action reform by curbing what is seen as class action law suit abuse which in the view of proponents has caused serious problems in current class action practice with significant injury to consumers thereby creating public dissatisfaction with the system. This reform would be achieved by requiring: (1) that notice of proposed settlements in all class actions, as well as all class notices, be in clear, easily understood English, (2) that attorney's fees in class actions be based on a reasonable 1 See CRS Report RS20667, Class Actions and Proposed Reform in 106'h Congress: Class Action Fairness Act of 2000 and CRS Report RS20347, Class Actions: H.R. 1875, 106'h Congress, the Interstate Class Action Jurisdiction Act of 1999. Congressional Research Service +. The Library of Congress CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web

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