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An Article
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NEW FEDERAL LAW FOR CLASS ACTIONS MAY BE GOOD FOR HOMEOWNER ASSOCIATIONS
State Judges Transalation of Justice is Just Us!
February 18, 2005
By
Willowdean Vance
(View author info)
Copyright Willowdean Vance
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From: "International Franchise Association" WASHINGTON, DC
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 10:18:40 -0500
To: ahrcnews
Subject: Franchise Community Cheers New Legal Reform Law
President Bush‚s signing of the Class Action Reform Act Friday is drawing high praise from the nation‚s franchising community, led by the International Franchise Association, one of the founding organizations of a litigation reform coalition of business groups.
This is great news for franchised small businesses. said IFA Pres. Matthew Shay. „Limiting unnecessary lawsuits against franchises has been a high priority for the franchising community for a long time.
IFA, the world‚s oldest and largest association representing franchised businesses, conducted an intensive effort to get its franchisee- and franchisor-members to throw their support behind the measure, S.5, when it was brought up in the Congress for consideration. The bill, designed to limit frivolous class-action lawsuits, was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate and quickly gained approval in the House of Representatives, passing last week.
Frivolous lawsuits of all types siphon much-needed resources from all businesses, Shay said. Franchises, which provide more than 18 million jobs for Americans and generate a total economic output exceeding $1.5 trillion, are often targeted by trial lawyers who view the firms as deep-pocket enterprises. In reality, the franchise establishments˜now numbering more than 760,000 in the United States˜are primarily small businesses.
„Class-action lawsuits not only damage the American small-business sector with their excess damage awards and legal costs, but they also have a more sinister impact by chilling the entrepreneurial spirit, frightening away many business innovators and the jobs they would create, Shay said.
The act, among other things, will limit „venue shopping. by plaintiffs' attorneys by moving many class action cases away from lawyer-friendly state courts to federal courts. It will also ban certain types of settlements that grant lawyers huge fees but leave those named in the suits virtually empty-handed.
Posted Feb 21 2005 6:38PM CET
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