Sessions Supports Fraudulent Joinder Prevention Act

Statement

U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the House Rules Committee, today issued the following statement after voting in favor of a measure that provides a uniform approach to deciding fraudulent joinder, an act where trial lawyers unfairly add a party to a lawsuit for the sole purpose of keeping the lawsuit in a state court favorable to the plaintiff:

"Throughout the last century, proving fraudulent joinder in civil lawsuits has been one of the heaviest burdens known to civil law. There are various reasons why trail lawyers would want their case tried in one state or another and these parties know that they can take advantage of the system while simply disregarding the harm to those who played an irrelevant role in the suit. For example, in pharmaceutical litigation, a plaintiff's lawyer may name a doctor in the complaint which will force the suit to be tried in one particular state, needlessly incurring legal fees for that doctor. Many times, that particular individual will be dropped from the case after but not until after the damage has already been done.

"Small businesses are regularly dragged into lawsuits, causing them undue harm while allowing trial lawyers the opportunity to reap the benefits of a flaw in the legal system. These acts are fraudulent and must be ended."

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