Tired of Frivolous Lawsuits?

Those of you who haven’t faced frivolous lawsuits please call and let us know how you’ve done it. For the rest of you, read on...

We rarely recommend supporting legislation because much of the legislation affecting your business is local or state – but we’re making an exception here for S.401, introduced in the U.S. Senate 18 months ago by Charles Grassley (R-IA). The bill is titled the “Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2015” and we encourage you to write or call your senator to get them on board.

The purpose of S.401 is to amend rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “to improve attorney accountability, with the goal of reducing the number of frivolous lawsuits.” We think that could be a significant help to contractors.

Prior to 1993, judges were required to penalize plaintiffs who brought frivolous lawsuits to court. When these cases were lost rule 11 mandated that judges sanction the offending party, generally requiring them to pay reasonable expenses and court costs for the defendant. But in 1993 Rule 11 was changed to give judges the option of penalizing plaintiffs – and they rarely do. The result has been attorneys who encourage and pursue frivolous cases – slip-and-falls anyone? – because the attorneys and their clients have nothing to lose. If they win a case they win and if they lose it doesn’t cost them anything but time.

Senate Bill 401 changes that by requiring judges “to compensate the parties that were injured by such conduct” and compensation will be “reasonable expenses incurred as a direct result of the violation, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.”

At press time Bill S.401 has passed the House of Representatives and Sen. Grassley is seeking a Democrat co-sponsor before bringing it to the floor. And if the Senate doesn’t pass it this term the whole process starts all over in January.

So we’re close and this is a great opportunity to protect your company (and this industry) from the types of lawsuits many contractors face. So take a few minutes to call and/or write your senators to let them know how Senate Bill 401, the “Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2015,” is important for the health of your business. You can find your senators’ contact information at http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact.