Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an important tort reform measure that would reduce lawsuit abuse and the related costs of frivolous lawsuits. The Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2013 (H.R. 2655) seeks to reduce wasteful litigation by making sanctions against frivolous claims mandatory rather than discretionary under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and by eliminating a 21-day “safe harbor” period for a plaintiff’s lawyer to withdraw a lawsuit without penalty.

This is a critical issue to our country’s overall competitiveness. According to the U.S. Chamber, America’s civil justice system is the world’s most expensive, with a direct cost in 2010 of $264.6 billion, or 1.82% of U.S. GDP.The passage of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act will have a positive impact on the country’s competitiveness and result in fewer phony lawsuits and less wasteful litigation.

As this bill heads to the U.S. Senate, Sens. Burr and Hagan need to hear from the North Carolina business community in support of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act. Call or email their offices with the contact information below:

Sen. Richard Burr: (202) 224-3154 or click here to send a message.
Sen. Kay Hagan: (202) 224-6342 or click here to send a message.