Litigation Reform's Legislative Prospects

Bruce Kaufman, the senior legal editor at Bloomberg BNA, has written a very informative series of articles examining the prospects that the House, Senate, and President will enact wide-ranging tort and civil justice "reform" legislation.  This legislation includes:

• HR 985, the "Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act"
• HR 725, the "Innocent Party Protection Act"
• HR 469, the "Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act"
• HR 720, the "Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act" or "Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act"
• and HR 906, the "Furthering Asbestos Claims Transparency Act"

All three articles are worth a careful read.  Links and downloads included below, courtesy of Bruce and Bloomberg BNA.

• Part 1: Trump to Weigh Litigation Changes,  Download BNA - Trump to Weigh Litigation Changes Long Coveted by Business
• Part 2: Push to Enact Civil Justice Bills Follows Industry Playbook,  Download BNA - Push to Enact Civil Justice Bills Follows Industry Playbook
• Part 3: Trump Seen as Supportive of Business-Backed Litigation Bills,  Download BNA - Trump Seen as Supportive of Business-Backed Litigation Bills

For those of you who missed the academic roundup on HR 985, you can find it here.

Floor debate on at least four of the bills (including the now merged HR 985 and HR 906, class actions and asbestos) is scheduled to begin as soon as the week of March 6.  A seventh bill on medical malpractice reform, HR 1215, may be voted on the week after March 6.