WEBVTT - Bloomberg Law Brief: GOP Goes After Class Action Suits (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Now it's time for our daily Bloomberg Law Brief, exploring

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<v Speaker 1>legal issues in the news. And The Bloomberg Law Brief

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<v Speaker 1>is brought to you by American Arbitration Association, International Trade

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<v Speaker 1>or Business Dispute Resolve Faster with the International Center for

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<v Speaker 1>a Dispute Resolution, the leader in alternative dispute resolution around

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<v Speaker 1>the world. I see dr dot org. Today, Bloomberg LA

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<v Speaker 1>host Juven Grosso and Michael Best discuss three bills currently

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<v Speaker 1>making their way through the House which aims to protect

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<v Speaker 1>business interests by restricting class action lawsuits. They speak with

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<v Speaker 1>Paul Barrett, an editor for Bloomberg Business Week. Paul, how

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<v Speaker 1>will these bills make it harder to bring class actions?

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<v Speaker 1>Chairman good Lat's bill, which is the one that directly

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<v Speaker 1>addresses class actions, has a whole series of provisions, no

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<v Speaker 1>one of which would would spell the end of class actions,

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<v Speaker 1>but in combination, they would make it much more difficult

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<v Speaker 1>for plaintiffs lawyers to bring these cases. For example, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a provision in the bill that requires that a

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<v Speaker 1>lead the fees for the plaintiff's lawyer be a percentage

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<v Speaker 1>of only of the money that has actually gone to

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<v Speaker 1>the alleged victims in the case, so that if the

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<v Speaker 1>remedies sought by the class action was just a change

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<v Speaker 1>in corporate behavior, that might mean that the that the

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<v Speaker 1>plaintiffs layers would not be entitled to any damages, and

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<v Speaker 1>that in turn, obviously would be a huge deterrent to

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<v Speaker 1>the bringing of those kinds of lawsuits. Well, there's also

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<v Speaker 1>there are also provisions to prevent um firms from doing

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<v Speaker 1>multiple representations and multiple suits of the same plaintiffs. What's

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<v Speaker 1>that all about. Yeah, Well, actually that provision was taken

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<v Speaker 1>out of the bill at the very very last second

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<v Speaker 1>because it was attracting a lot of attention, so that

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<v Speaker 1>there was a provision originally in the bill that basically

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<v Speaker 1>would have made it very difficult for the experienced securities

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<v Speaker 1>class action law firms that bring uh cases of that

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<v Speaker 1>securities fraud cases and frequently represent the same institutional investors

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<v Speaker 1>over and over. It would have made it very difficult

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<v Speaker 1>for them to do business. But good lad actually had

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<v Speaker 1>the bill amended it literally on the floor at the

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<v Speaker 1>last minute, and that provision is now out. So Paul,

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<v Speaker 1>what are the chances that this will pass not just

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<v Speaker 1>the House but the Senate. Well, these bills are passing

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<v Speaker 1>the House, and that's as expected. They face a much

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<v Speaker 1>tougher set of obstacles in the Senate, where the Republicans

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<v Speaker 1>have only a fifty two to forty eight advantage, which

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<v Speaker 1>means that under Senate rules, to avoid a filibuster they

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<v Speaker 1>need to find eight Democrats to go along with them.

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<v Speaker 1>Now they have a strategy for that. They're going to

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<v Speaker 1>target uh Democrats from red states who are up for

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<v Speaker 1>re election in eighteen and hope that they can peel

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<v Speaker 1>away a few of those votes. That's Paul Barrett, an

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<v Speaker 1>editor for Bloomberg Business Week, speaking with the Bloomberg Law

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<v Speaker 1>host joom Brasso and Michael Best. You can listen to

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Law weekdays at one pm Wall Street Time here

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<v Speaker 1>on Bloomberg Radio Now. Among the top legal stories from

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<v Speaker 1>South Korea's austened president Bank Jun Hey has new problems

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<v Speaker 1>by a close friend. One of the most notorious terrorists

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<v Speaker 1>from the seventies goes on trial today in Paris. The

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<v Speaker 1>Venezuela man known as Carlos the Jackal is already serving

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<v Speaker 1>in the nineteen seventy four grenade attack in Paris that

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<v Speaker 1>killed two people. And that's this morning. Is Bloomberg Law Brief.

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