SACRAMENTO - The California Legislature will consider a bill next week which presents them with their final opportunity to enact meaningful Y2K legislation before January 1, 2000, according to the Civil Justice Association of California. The bill, AB 905 (Dutra and Cunneen), which will be heard in the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, June 15, is a responsible approach to avoiding frivolous litigation and encouraging computer system improvements in advance of problems.

"This bill says 'spend time fixing the problem now instead of spending it on lawsuits later,'" said John H. Sullivan, President of the Civil Justice Association, the bill's sponsor. "Consumers and companies do not have to become victims of the feeding frenzies that plaintiff's trial lawyers are planning for Y2K."

Sullivan added that action in California's legislature is particularly important since litigation solutions at a federal level have yet to be enacted. Several states have already approved Y2K liability legislation this year.

AB 905 will protect software companies from predatory liability suits when they provide free repair, replacement or refund for products distributed in 1995 or later, and supply users with information about how to obtain repair of products distributed from 1989 through 1994.

Sullivan pointed out that trial lawyers have already begun holding seminars on how to benefit from Y2K lawsuits. He noted that the hopes of some in the legal community are typified by the statement of an Orange County attorney made in the American Bar Association Magazine: "I hope there will be enough to make everyone involved happy, but not so much as to change the economy of the United States."