To the editor:
Thank you, George Dubya!
You've takened class-action law suits - those exceeding $5 million - from the golf course onto center stage: federal courts. Big Business - your avid supporters - need to have Big Law Firms to keep them in check.
The new law, called the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, will help accelerate the consolidation of law firms that specialize in bringing class-action cases. These Big National Law Firms will produce more sophisticated, better-researched material in front of a higher court.
Elizabeth Cabraser, of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, says, "this bill is going to require our firm to grow. That's a good thing if you like to be bigger and spend more money and hope to make more money," for them and their clients.
Those lawyers will "find-tune" their craft to meet the federal criteria for class-action status. Larger firms such as hers will have the resources to see a suit through to either a judgment or a settlement. You've done the rest of us in America, a big, big favor.
Gregory D. Pawelski
Wernersville, Pa.