Goodlatte, Franks And Buck Applaud House Judiciary Committee Approval Of Fraudulent Joinder Legislation

Statement

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Constitution and Civil Justice Subcommittee Chairman Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), and the bill's sponsor and House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) released the following statements upon House Judiciary Committee approval of the Fraudulent Joinder Prevention Act of 2015 (H.R. 3624) by a vote of 13-10.

The bill would help address litigation abuse in which trial lawyers drag small business owners into court, to answer for claims to which they have no real connection, simply to further the lawyers' forum shopping strategy.

Under the bill, federal judges would be given greater discretion to remove innocent local defendants (mostly small businesses) from lawsuits when such businesses are sued by trial lawyers simply to keep the case in a state court, where the lawyers think they would have a better chance of getting a more favorable verdict.

Chairman Goodlatte: "Plaintiff's attorneys that prey on local businesses just to score a quick win in their lawsuits against other defendants have no place in our courts. Under our current system, local businesses in every state have a target painted on their backs by lawyers who want to exploit them to avoid having their case heard in federal court. As a result, precious time and money is spent by hardworking business owners, and their employees, who must fight these frivolous claims in court. It's time to give judges the discretion they need to fairly assess whether some parties are being sued under plausible claims of liability, and not simply because they are serving a lawyer's tactical interests in forum shopping."

Subcommittee Chairman Franks: "The Constitution's Framers created diversity jurisdiction to preserve national harmony and promote interstate commerce by ensuring that a lawsuit involving citizens of different states could be litigated in a presumably neutral federal court rather than in a possibly biased state court.

"This legislation will improve the administration of justice in the federal courts. And, it will especially help small, local businesses and their owners and employees, who are currently unfairly pulled into costly lawsuits by trial lawyers simply to keep cases in state court. Small businesses are already overburdened by litigation as it is, they should not be further weighed down by cases to which they have no real connection so attorneys can game the system."

Congressman Buck: "When trial lawyers want to game our justice system, they file frivolous lawsuits against small businesses. The trial lawyers increase their profit, but the small business owners face significant legal fees. This bill protects small business owners from these frivolous lawsuits so that they can continue to create jobs and contribute to the local economy."

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