NEXT MONTH, agents and brokers will head to Washington, D.C., for their annual spring lobbying of legislators as part of conferences conducted by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America and the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents. In advance of these events, agents and brokers crossed a major 2005 legislative objective off their list when President George W. Bush last month signed into law the Class Action Fairness Act. The act, widely hailed as landmark legislation, will move class-action suits larger than $5 million, with certain exceptions, to the federal judiciary from state courthouses.

“Enactment of the Class Action Fairness Act is an important first step in creating needed legal reform in America,” Robert A. Rusbuldt, IIABA's CEO, said in a press release. “This bill will strike a balance, in class-action cases, between the needs of consumers and small businesses.”

The American Insurance Association was equally pleased. “President Bush's signature puts class action reform across the finish line,” said Melissa Shelk, vice president of federal affairs for the American Insurance Association, “making winners of businesses held hostage by frivolous lawsuits and consumers who have received nothing more than worthless settlement coupons.”

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