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Thursday, Oct. 23, 2003

The 59-39 vote to avoid a filibuster, which followed a fierce last-minute lobbying campaign on both sides, left the measure's supporters one vote shy of the 60 needed to advance the measure. The legislation's supporters needed only the Republican-controlled Senate's approval to enact the measure, with the GOP-controlled House and President Bush already on board.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., had lined up enough support from Democrats such as Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., to pass the legislation. But Senate Democrat leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota persuaded his senators to filibuster the bill and, after last-second jockeying on the Senate floor, got enough support to kill the legislation.

"I'm clearly disappointed," Frist said.

The legislation says class-action lawsuits in which the primary defendant and more than one-third of the plaintiffs are from the same state would still be heard in state courts. If less than one-third of the plaintiffs are from the same state as the primary defendant, the case would go to federal court.

Also, at least $5 million would have to be at stake for a class-action lawsuit to be heard in federal court.

The bill was one of the priorities this year of the business community, which has poured millions into lobbying Congress to limit class-action lawsuits. Corporations and small businesses, which tend to favor the Republican Party, say greedy lawyers make more money from class-action lawsuits than the actual victims, and said attorneys sometimes threatened companies with lawsuits in order to get quick financial settlements.

Moving the cases to federal court would curb frivolous lawsuits and keep trial lawyers from getting millions of dollars in fees while their clients get little compensation, GOP senators said.

"This is all about benefiting a few people at the expense of the many," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. "Consumers end up with the short end of the stick while entrepreneurial lawyers who file this litigation benefit by reaping millions of dollars."

Federal courts are assumed to be less likely to issue multimillion-dollar verdicts against big corporations.

But Democrats, who get campaign support from trial lawyers, say the legislation is aimed at helping businesses escape multimillion judgments for their wrongdoing and hurting the lawyers who litigate those cases.

"Defendant corporations don't want to be held liable for their misconduct, and if held responsible they want to pay less money, and that's what it comes down to," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "That's what this is all about. They want to protect themselves and limit their liability."

Democrats say they will allow the bill to be resurrected only if major changes are made to its provisions. Sen. John Breaux, D-La., has offered an alternative that would still allow large groups of people from the same state to sue corporations in their state court, even if the defendant is based in another state.

"If the side that is for reform is really interested in real reform and not just a political issue, these discussions can be had with this senator," said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., the last senator to join the Democrats' filibuster efforts after being lobbied hard by both parties.

Every Republican except Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., voted for the bill, along with eight Democrats.

© 2003 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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