The Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC) has released a new scorecard that gauges legislators’ recent work to foster parity and balance in the state’s civil court procedures, evaluating actions on key bills concerning unwarranted liability expansions, frivolous litigation, and private rights of action (PRAs).
"The Balance Scorecard demonstrates the unfortunate one-sidedness of California's legislature, with the number of legislators who vote against balanced civil justice policies far outnumbering those who do,” Kyla Christoffersen Powell, CJAC president and CEO, told the Northern California Record by email.
“CJAC's goal with the scorecard is to provide transparency into how our elected lawmakers act on civil liability issues that affect California businesses and consumers,” Powell said. “After seeing the scorecard outcomes, we hope this spurs Californians to support legislators who have promoted fairness in our civil justice system, and hold those who don't accountable."
For the 2021 scorecard, CJAC assessed votes on 18 key bills that unreasonably increased liability for a range of employers, from mobility device manufacturers to businesses using online platforms, according to a CJAC news release.
Among the bills used in the scoring, CJAC opposed the first four listed below and supported SB 211:
AB 35, which would impose civil liability on social media platforms for spread of misinformation online.
AB 424, a bill that creates lender liability for enforcing valid student loan contracts. (PRA)
AB 701, which imposes onerous regulations on warehouse distribution centers. (PRA)
AB 814, which creates unwarranted regulation, liability for contact tracing data use. (PRA)
SB 211, a measure that holds the State Bar accountable for failure to resolve disciplinary cases.
As noted in the scorecard’s section explaining CJAC’s policy position: “CJAC generally opposes creation of new PRAs, which allow private lawsuits under civil laws normally enforced by government, as they incentivize profit-seeking suits that primarily benefit plaintiffs’ lawyers.”
Scorecard ratings for the legislators ranged from 0% to 100%.