Coalition urges litigation reform.A coalition of business and professional organizations supporting litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. reform, including the American Institute of CPAs, is working with members of Congress to develop a litigation reform package capable of winning passage in the House and Senate. The Coalition to Eliminate Abusive Securities Suits (CEASS) said the nation's six largest CPA (Computer Press Association, Landing, NJ) An earlier membership organization founded in 1983 that promoted excellence in computer journalism. Its annual awards honored outstanding examples in print, broadcast and electronic media. The CPA disbanded in 2000. firms spent $477 million to settle or fight lawsuits in 1991. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the coalition, that figure represents 9% of the firms' more than $5 billion in combined auditing and accounting revenues last year. Moreover, many midsized and small accounting firms responding to a recent AICPA AICPA See American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). member survey said they have found it necessary to eliminate auditing services or restrict them to select, "low-risk" clients in industries in which there is little risk of increased liability. Proportionate pro·por·tion·ate adj. Being in due proportion; proportional. tr.v. pro·por·tion·at·ed, pro·por·tion·at·ing, pro·por·tion·ates To make proportionate. liability. One of CEASS's goals is to replace joint and several liability (under which any codefendant codefendant n. when more than one person or entity is sued in one lawsuit, each party sued is called a codefendant. in a securities fraud case can be held liable for all damages awarded) with proportionate liability (under which penalties are based on relative contribution to any harm caused). The coalition also advocates passage of reforms affecting fee shifting and requiring stronger proof of allegations. A litigation reform package acceptable to Congress is expected to be introduced in the near future, with hearings later this summer. The coalition's 120 members include accounting firms, insurance underwriters, manufacturers, retailers and trade associations. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion