I need the current standing of federal class action reform and
asbestos reform legislation as soon as possible -- just a quick blurb
about where both currently stand in the legislature -- preferably
within 5-10 minutes. Thanks!

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 29 Apr 2004 04:57 PDT

Take a look at this and let me know if it has the kind of information you need:

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2004/04/29/news/local/005906498d314bac86256e8500168d7e.txt

Frist blames high health care costs on malpractice insurance, lawsuits


...Frist and his fellow Republicans, who hold a narrow majority in the
Senate, have repeatedly tried to pass limits on malpractice suits, but
have been stymied by a series of Democratic-led filibusters.

 


...Frist said he also is working to overcome opposition to two other
pieces of tort reform -- one to federalize class-action lawsuits and
the other to curb lawsuits against the asbestos industry. The former,
he said, would prevent trial lawyers from shopping class-action suits
to certain counties with sympathetic juries. The latter would provide
a relief to an industry, in which a number of companies, with limited
ties to asbestos manufacturing, have gone bankrupt, costing hundreds
of jobs.

Frist noted he and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., are
quietly working on a bi-partisan asbestos bill.

---

Clarification of Question by christmas-ga on 29 Apr 2004 07:26 PDT

Yes, this looks like what I need -- just the latest status on both
pieces of legislation.  Thanks so much.

Christmas-ga,

Thanks for letting me know that the information in that article I
linked to was what you needed.  I'm repeating the information here for
the sake of clarity:

=====

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2004/04/29/news/local/005906498d314bac86256e8500168d7e.txt

Frist blames high health care costs on malpractice insurance, lawsuits


...Frist and his fellow Republicans, who hold a narrow majority in the
Senate, have repeatedly tried to pass limits on malpractice suits, but
have been stymied by a series of Democratic-led filibusters.

 


...Frist said he also is working to overcome opposition to two other
pieces of tort reform -- one to federalize class-action lawsuits and
the other to curb lawsuits against the asbestos industry. The former,
he said, would prevent trial lawyers from shopping class-action suits
to certain counties with sympathetic juries. The latter would provide
a relief to an industry, in which a number of companies, with limited
ties to asbestos manufacturing, have gone bankrupt, costing hundreds
of jobs.

Frist noted he and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., are
quietly working on a bi-partisan asbestos bill.

=====

By the way, a great way to look for the most current information on a
topic is to do what I did...search Google News at:

http://news.google.com/

I ran a search on:

federal "class action" reform

and it took me quickly to the article I cited.

Other results from the same search can be seen here:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&ie=UTF-8&q=federal+%22class+action%22+reform

Let me know if you need any additional information on all this.

Thanks.

pafalafa-ga

Good article; came a little late for my purposes but that is the fault
of my crazy boss who -- out of the blue -- wanted the research in 10
minutes at 6:30 this morning, not the reseacher!