Posted On: February 17, 2005, 4:08 pm CST

Posted By: Barney

Steve's posting was quite timely. I was just catching up on overdue reading and would like to recommend a piece that appeared in the Feb.14 issue of "The Wall Street Journal", entitled "Class Action...a la Francaise". It is critical of Jacques Chirac for endorsing the use of class-action lawsuits in France at the same time that the U.S. is taking steps to scale back abusive class-action litigation. In part, the article states,"class actions are just one element of a U.S. tort system that has spiraled out of control in recent years. And, properly employed, they are a sensible and beneficial tool for deciding multiple cases that would, if tried separately, result in the same outcome anyway. But what began as a way to save time, has become, in the U.S., a rent-seeking device for lawyers who bring cases whose primary beneficiaries are almost always themselves, rather than their clients, witting or unwitting". It goes on in great detail to trace the history of tort litigation and to cite specific examples similar to the McDonald's fiasco. A MUST read for EVERYONE who posted!