LA Lawyer Publishes "The Unfairness of the Class Action Fairness Act"

This month's Los Angeles Lawyer has an opinion piece by Jerome Ringler entitled The Unfairness of the Class Action Fairness Act, 29-MAR LALAW 52. The piece is highly critical of the Class Action Fairness Act, which just celebrated its one-year anniversary last month. Here's an excerpt:

FEBRUARY 18, 2005, IS A LEGAL MILESTONE that, years hence, may be remembered for various acts of political folly, misconceptions, and targeted hostility toward select members of the legal profession. That date marks the enactment of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA), a statute heralded by President Bush and Congress as an antidote to that enemy within, that culprit responsible for all that is purportedly wrong with America--trial lawyers. This legislation owes its origins, in part, to the prevailing assumption that plaintiffs' attorneys, myself included, exert an unnecessary cost on corporations, that we routinely initiate "frivolous" lawsuits against innocent defendants, and that we must be stopped. I understand this misplaced rage, but I also know this particular piece of legislation is unwise and unnecessary. The act complicates things, leaves a number of serious legal issues unanswered, forces both sides to reconsider certain tactics, and may actually leave the court system with even more cases to adjudicate.

Westlaw subcribers can access the piece by clicking here.