"The jury is still out on the Assembly and Senate as a whole, but we are pleased to report that there appears to be a bi-partisan sense of restraint when it comes to floor votes on some of the bad bills," observed John H. Sullivan, president of the Civil Justice Association of California.

"The Legislature is enjoying the comfortable situation of tax revenue well above projections -- a direct result of California's economic recovery," he said. "That's why it's surprising that on the liability front, key committees have advanced bills, largely trial lawyer-sponsored, that would spawn costly litigation and drag down the very companies that are producing jobs and economic growth."

Sullivan noted that trial lawyer campaign contributions -- $3 million over the 1995-96 election cycle -- have produced judiciary committees steeply tilted in favor of the trial lawyer agenda of "finding new deep pocket defendants and more ways to sue them."

"We hope and believe that as the full Assembly and Senate each considers these bills, individual legislators will look hard at these harmful proposals and use their "no" votes as not only a vote for California's continued economic recovery but as an opportunity to show their independence."

The "Early Report Card" on committees is attached:

Bills that would hurt California's economic recovery:

AB 1109 (Escutia)
Uninsured motorists and others not covered by an insurance policy would be able to file high cost lawsuits against insurers under AB 1109. Insurers' ability to investigate fraudulent claims would be crippled, insurance costs and premiums would go up, and courts would be further clogged to the tune of $25 million in added taxpayer costs.

AB 1324 (Escutia)
California's already-too-weak "summary judgment" law would be further weakened by pro-frivolous lawsuit AB 1324. Summary judgments are one of the most effective tools for eliminating frivolous claims, and trial lawyers badly want to make it harder for parties to challenge and for judges to eliminate claims that have no merit.

Senate Bill 19 (Lockyer)
This bill would let unhappy plaintiffs take an arbitration award to court, even though there was an agreement that arbitration is binding. SB 19 would send more cases to already-clogged courts and undercut the process for settling disputes faster, fairer, and at less cost.

Bills that would help California's economic recovery:

AB 843 (Goldsmith)
"Summary judgments" to eliminate frivolous lawsuits and claims would be made more useful by AB 843.

AB 657 (Baugh)
AB 657 would discourage frivolous lawsuits over job termination disputes by capping the potential for lifetime pay awards.

AB 1171 (Kaloogian)
Excessive auto litigation and insurance rates would both decline under AB 1171, which would reduce wasteful lawsuits involving non-serious injury accidents.

AB 1371 (Morrow)
This bill would discourage speculative punitive damage claims by requiring judges, instead of juries, to set the amount of punitive damage awards according to fair criteria laid out in advance.

SB 1309 (Mountjoy)
Bogus lawsuits brought under the Unfair Competition Act would be curtailed by SB 1309. Currently, lawyers can sue without a plaintiff or even any evidence of harm.

SB 1278 (Leslie)
This bill would discourage frivolous lawsuits over job termination disputes by capping the potential for lifetime pay awards.

1) Joined the committee in May   2) Left the committee in May

*Vote in committee differs from floor vote.