Congressional Class Action Jurisdiction Legislation

[Ron Smith <kansbar5@ink.org>]

Interesting information about potential changes in class action legislation
in Congress, from the ABA's Governmental Affairs section in Washington.
KBA has no position on this legislation.  It is offered to you FYI.
===


From: "Pfautz, Leanne" <PfautzL@staff.abanet.org> 
To: "'legis@abanet.org'" <legis@abanet.org> 
Cc: "Gaskin, Lillian" <GaskinL@staff.abanet.org> 
Subject: Class Action Jurisdiction Legislation 
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1998 16:39:00 -0500  
Sender: owner-legis@mail.abanet.org
        The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property 
met
this morning and attempted  to mark up H.R. 3789, the class action
jurisdiction legislation.  The Chairman of the Subcommittee, Howard Coble
(R-NC) said that, because of time constraints, he hoped to mark up the
legislation and report it to the full Committee today.  He said he would
hold a hearing on the measure on June 18 and this would be before the full
Committee would mark up the bill.  Congressman Frank (D-MA) said he had
concerns about the bill.  He said he would offer amendments if the mark-up
session proceeded but felt it was more appropriate to hold Subcommittee
hearings first. He said he had a number of concerns about the way the bill
is drafted. For example, he said, the way the bill is written, it allows
for a mid-litigation shift to federal courts since it drops the time limit
on removal actions. Congressman Delahunt (D-MA) said the Federal courts are
already overburdened. Congresswoman Lofgren (D-CA) said that there are
definite flaws in the legislation. Congressmen Delahunt and Conyers (D-MI)
also said they wanted Subcommittee hearings to be held before the
Subcommittee marked up the bill. Because of this, Congressman Coble decided
to delay mark-up of the bill until the conclusion of  the June 18
Subcommittee hearings. He would like to hold hearings and mark up the bill
on the same date. 

<><<   >><>   <><<   >><>   <><<   >><>   <><<   >><> 
This posting  is not legal advice nor should it be 
construed as legal advice.

Ron Smith, General Counsel
Kansas Bar Association          kansbar5@ink.org
1200 Harrison                   Fax  785-234-3813
Topeka KS 66601                 Voice 785-234-5696
<><<   >><>   <><<   >><>   <><<   >><>   <><<   >><>  
-------------------------------------------------------------
Private reply:         "Pfautz, Leanne" <PfautzL@staff.abanet.org> 
Public replies:        kansasattorneys-l@lawlib.wuacc.edu
To subscribe, signoff: listserv@lawlib.wuacc.edu
Listserv questions:    Mark Folmsbee, zzfolm@acc.wuacc.edu
List owner:            Ron Smith, Kansas Bar Association
Washburn's WashLawWEB, a comprehensive legal research site:
       http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/washlaw/washlaw.html
Is your law firm listed correctly?
       http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/washlaw/lawfirms.html