Bill: Draft Commonwealth Civil Damages Amendment Act

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A
BILL
To

Amend the Legal Damages Act​

The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:

1 - Short Title and Enactment

(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Commonwealth Civil Damages Amendment Act'​

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(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.​

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(3) This Act has been authored by Prosecutor Kaiserin_, with inspiration from Senator Gribble19.​

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(4) This Act has been sponsored by Representative girlfailcoded.​

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(5) This Act has been co-sponsored by Representative .CaldironJa1.​

2 - Reasons

(1) Scrupulous lawyers have no incentive not to file lawsuits of questionable prospects against the Commonwealth. These cases often cost the Commonwealth a great deal of time and money, but the plaintiff bears no risk that they usually would incur in civil cases, where legal fees create a necessary risk assessment when evaluating whether a case is worth filing or not.​

(2) Litigants currently incur no risk for artificially inflating the value of a case against the Commonwealth, where they normally would incur such in other civil cases, often creating unreasonable prayers for relief.​

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3 - Amendments

§9 of the Legal Damages Act shall be amended as follows:​

“9 - Legal Fees​

(1) Definition:​

(a) Legal fees are most commonly used to describe the fees paid to the attorney for his/her time and effort.​

(2) Award:​

(a) Legal fees are awarded directly to the legal representative of the party that prevails in a given case, paid by the losing party in the case. Legal fees do not necessitate inclusion in a prayer for relief or a countersuit to be awarded.​

(i) Legal representatives may choose not to be awarded legal fees upon success in a case, but this must be communicated to the court in a case filing, response, or plea.​

(b) Legal fees shall be awarded to pro se litigants where applicable, who shall be counted as their own legal representative for the purposes of this section.​

(c) In cases that reach a verdict, legal fees are awarded to the legal representative of the prevailing party at a rate of 30% of the total value of the case, except in situations outlined in § 9.(3). In cases that do not reach a verdict, legal fees may be awarded at the discretion of the presiding judicial officer, but shall not exceed 30% of the total case value if awarded.​

(i) In civil cases, the value of a case shall be assessed as either the award actually granted if the plaintiff prevails, or the award requested by the plaintiff if the defendant prevails. In criminal proceedings, the value of a case shall be the total amount of fines sought by the prosecutor.​

(d) Legal fees shall not be awarded to the Commonwealth in civil or criminal proceedings except in civil proceedings where it is the defendant.​

(e) Countersuits shall not warrant legal fees unless both the countersuit and original filing receive award.​

(3) Diminution of award and minimums:​

(a) Legal fees may be diminished at the discretion of the presiding judicial officer based on the conduct and competency shown in the case.​

(b) In cases that reach a verdict, legal fees must not be awarded at a rate less than 10% of the value of the case in any court. In cases that do not reach a verdict, there is no minimum.​

(c) In Federal and Supreme Court cases where legal fees are awarded, they must not be awarded at a rate of less than $6,000. In District Court cases where legal fees are awarded, they must not be awarded at a rate of less than $2,000.”​