[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 7, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     THE ATTORNEY ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

                                 ______


                           HON. EARL POMEROY

                            of north dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 7, 1995
  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to the bill, 
H.R. 988, the Attorney Accountability Act.
  The authors of this bill would have you believe this legislation is 
intended to reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits. This bill would 
more likely discourage average Americans--most likely middle-income 
citizens--from seeking redress in our judicial system. As the bill is 
written plaintiff's whose cases were found to have merit would actually 
be punished under this legislation.
  This bill alters the playing field between parties to a lawsuit and 
gives all the benefits to the large financially secure party. While a 
family would potentially risk all of their assets if a jury would rule 
against them, a large corporation could easily absorb these costs. 
Accordingly, the large corporation would have a tremendous advantage in 
a pretrial settlement conference in light of the dire risks the family 
would have with an adverse jury ruling.
  I wholeheartedly support curtailing frivolous lawsuits. Yesterday we 
had an opportunity to bring this bill back in line with the rhetoric 
that surrounds it. An amendment offered by Representative McHale, as 
modified by Representative Berman, would have replaced the loser pays 
provisions in H.R. 988 with provisions awarding attorney's fees to a 
defendant if the court finds the plaintiff's case to be frivolous. The 
court would entertain this motion anytime in the first 90 days after 
the complaint was filed. If found to be meritorious, it would put a 
halt to the nonsense before the parties under went the costly discovery 
process. More importantly, the claim would be dismissed and all legal 
costs would be born by the plaintiff.
  The McHale-Berman amendment would have given courts discretion to get 
rid of frivolous lawsuits that are filed in bad faith or with only the 
intention to harass.
  This bill is appropriately called the loser pays bill. Unfortunately, 
the real loser here is the American people.


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