Support
The Act accomplished two key goals of tort reform advocates:
- Reduce "forum-shopping" by plaintiffs in friendly state courts by expanding federal diversity jurisdiction to class actions where there is not "complete diversity" giving federal jurisdiction over class actions against out-of-state defendants. Proponents argued that "magnet jurisdictions" such as Madison County, Illinois were rife with abuse of the class action procedure.
- Requires greater federal scrutiny procedures for the review of class action settlements and changes the rules for evaluating coupon settlements, often reducing attorney's fees that are deemed excessive relative to the benefits actually afforded class members. For example, in an infamous Alabama class action involving Bank of Boston, the attorneys' fees exceeded the relief to the class members, and class members lost money paying attorneys for the "victory."
The Act passed the Senate 72 to 26, with all 53 Republicans voting in favor, and the Act passed the House 279 to 149, with the support of 50 Democrats and all but one of the Republicans. President George W. Bush signed the act into law on February 18, 2005.
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Civil Procedure Doctrines |
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| Justiciability |
| Advisory opinions |
| Standing · Ripeness · Mootness |
| Political questions |
| Jurisdiction |
| Subject-matter jurisdiction |
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| Amount in controversy |
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| Pendent jurisdiction |
| Ancillary jurisdiction |
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| Personal jurisdiction |
| In personam |
| In rem jurisdiction |
| Quasi in rem jurisdiction |
| Federalism |
| Erie doctrine · Abstention |
| Sovereign immunity · Abrogation |
| Rooker-Feldman doctrine |
| Adequate and independent state ground |
| edit this template |
Read more about this topic: Class Action Fairness Act Of 2005
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