Class Action Fairness Act

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© iStock
© iStock

Last month, our colleague Joshua Foust analyzed the then-newly introduced Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017.  The bill, sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), amends procedures used in federal court class action and mass tort litigation.  Last week, on March 9, just one month after Chairman Goodlatte (R-VA) introduced the bill, the full House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 220-201.  The legislation will now be considered by the Senate.   

Now that the bill has passed the House, we have drafted an alert providing additional analysis. Click here to read the alert on Crowell.com or read below.

The U.S. House Sets Out To Reform Class and Mass Actions

Continue Reading Update: Class Action Reform Bill Passes House 220-201

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

Just a week before Congress began its first extended recess of 2017, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee took a step towards dramatically changing the landscape of class action litigation. On Thursday, February 9, Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) introduced a bill (H.R. 985) that would “amend the procedures used in Federal court class actions” by adding a number of new hurdles to class certification in federal court.

Chairman Goodlatte was a principal author of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, which considerably expanded federal diversity jurisdiction over interstate class actions. He was also behind another class action reform bill introduced in 2015 that failed to clear the Senate. His new bill, dubbed the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017, is in much the same vein—and, if passed, would represent the most sweeping revision of federal class action law to date.

Highlights from the bill:
Continue Reading Class Dismissed? New House Bill Could Transform Federal Class Action Law