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Issues: Legal Reform“This bill (Class Action Fairness Act) did a good job of balancing appropriate and necessary legal reform, while maintaining the rights of consumers to bring legitimate class action claims.”
Class Action ReformClass actions, brought on behalf of multiple plaintiffs, each with a relatively small claim, can result in huge judgments against businesses awarded by sympathetic juries. Plaintiffs’ lawyers routinely bring these cases in jurisdictions where juries have made excessive awards in past cases. This is known as “forum shopping.” Often the result is a miniscule award to each individual plaintiff (sometimes resulting in a coupon for a discount on additional products or services purchased from the defendant company), but a huge windfall for the attorneys in the form of attorneys’ fees. To solve the problem of “forum shopping” and other related issues, Senator Nelson has supported class action reform legislation in the Senate and has been involved in the negotiations to produce a fair and workable bill which will give federal courts the responsibility for hearing large class action cases. The 108th Congress failed to address this important piece of legislation despite a last minute push by Nelson and other like-minded Senators. Senator Nelson expects to continue to push this as a priority. Medical Liability ReformIn many areas of the nation, medical doctors, particularly those who practice in critical care areas such as obstetrics and neurosurgery, are facing large increases in the cost of medical malpractice insurance. Many of these physicians are leaving the practice of medicine because they simply cannot afford these increased premiums. Many small communities in Nebraska already have difficulty in keeping doctors, and escalating malpractice premiums only make the problem worse. Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson is committed to finding a workable solution to escalating malpractice premiums by addressing the medical liability issue. Since 1976, Nebraska has had a statute which limits the amount an injured plaintiff can recover for his or her injury. Senator Nelson believes that Nebraska’s approach could be used as a national model. |
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Unnecessary lawsuits against employers and producers are driving up costs to consumers, costing America jobs, putting a drag on our economy and stifling innovation and competition. Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson is supporting legislative legal reforms in the Senate that will curtail frivolous lawsuits, preserve jobs, compensate victims, protect consumers and encourage new product development. 