[StBernard] U.S. Chamber: Contingency Fee Bill Will Cost Louisiana Jobs

[Westley Annis]

I'm not sure why I got this press release a month later, but thankfully this
bill did not pass.

I'm seeing a record of any voting on it in the Senate, but in the House it
was a reversal of sorts.  Ken Odinet voted against it while Nita Hutter
voted for it.

Sometimes, no, make that all the time, I just don't understand what these
people are thinking when they cast their votes.

Westley
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U.S. Chamber: Contingency Fee Bill Will Cost Louisiana Jobs Intent is to
Line Lawyers. Pockets, Not Serve Citizens

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lisa Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for
Legal Reform, today released the following statement regarding legislation
that would authorize the Louisiana Attorney General to enter into
contingency fee contracts with outside counsel (S.B. 750/H.B. 1397):

"This law is not only unnecessary, but if enacted, will be at the expense of
hard-working Louisianans. 

"The attorney general is already authorized to hire outside counsel on an
hourly fee schedule. The only group that stands to benefit from this
legislation is plaintiffs. lawyers, who can reap much larger fees when paid
on a contingency basis. Meanwhile, the citizens of the state foot the bill
for the lawyers' increased payout.

"What's more, plaintiffs' lawyers, seeing the bounty that can be collected
from a lucrative contingency fee contract, will be lining up at the AG's
door to bring questionable lawsuits against the state's employers. This
lawsuit abuse creates a hostile legal climate that scares away would-be
employers and drives existing businesses out of state, taking much-needed
jobs and employee benefits with them. 

"This contingency fee bill is nothing more than an end-run by the
plaintiffs' bar around a recently enacted federal law that requires most
class action cases to be heard in federal court, rather than in the local
jurisdictions where they have more influence. 

"At a time when Louisianans are focused on moving forward, passage of this
legislation would be a major setback. Simply put, this law is bad for
workers, bad for employers and bad for Louisiana."


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