Our legal system is like our democracy. Our legal system is the most unfair legal system, except for all the other legal systems out there.
Clients unfamiliar with the American system of civil justice are sometimes shocked to find that the winner of a lawsuit, in most instances, has to pay their own attorneys’ fees. This sometimes means that when someone has been wronged, they must suffer the extra expense of paying an attorney to obtain any measure of justice. In many other western nations the loser of a lawsuit must pay the winning side’s attorneys’ fees, but not here in the United States. This rule is strongly applied with only a few specific exceptions ( for example, if there is a specific law allowing attorneys’ fees in your type of case, or if attorneys’ fees are allowed under a contract between the parties).
Del. John O’Bannon (R - Richmond) has introduced HB1640 in an attempt to benefit defendants (the parties being sued) with a loser pays rule that provides no benefit to plaintiffs (the parties that brings the lawsuit seeking damages against the defendant(s)). This bill is a completely lopsided bill that will wreak havoc on the civil justice system in Virginia if passed in its current form.
In its shortest simplest form: HB1640, as written gives a power to defendants. This power begins with an offer made by a defendant to a plaintiff to have judgment entered against the defendant for a specified amount of money. If the plaintiff then rejects that offer, goes to trial, and loses (or wins a judgment for less than the offer from the defendant), the plaintiff must then pay all of the defendants “costs.” The statute specifies costs as including expert witness fees, court reporting fees, and attorneys’ fees almost all of which would normally not be compensable.
NO SUCH POWER IS GIVEN TO THE PLAINTIFF.
