Bill: Draft Legal Damages Rebalance Act

[Kaiserin_]

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 'Legal Damages Rebalance Act.'
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored by Rep. Kaiserin_ and Rep. Omegabiebel.
(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Rep. Omegabiebel.

2 - Reasons
(1) The Legal Damages Balance Act had major issues and oversights that need re-assessing.
(2) Restrictions should be placed to ensure that lawyers are fairly compensated for their work, but judicial autonomy should be preserved where possible.
(3) Each and every possible situation where legal fee amounts should be reconsidered cannot be individually accounted for, so this bill attempts to set out guidelines that are stricter than prior law, but not suffocating to the extent of the current law.

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 must be awarded unless excepted by this law, and 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.
(c) Legal fees shall be awarded to the legal representative of the prevailing party in a case at a rate of the greater of $6,000 Redmont dollars or 30% of the total value of the case. Cases that reach summary judgment or default judgment before any witnesses are examined shall have an award of the greater of $5,000 or 25% of the total value of the case.
(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.
(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.
(d) Legal fees are capped at $4,000 per day a case is in court from its filing to the time the defense makes its closing remarks, or if the defense fails to make closing remarks, the time the Court enters recess for verdict.
(e) In the event that the plaintiff initiates legal proceedings and such proceedings are dismissed by the court, the prevailing party's legal representative(s) shall be entitled to recover legal fees from the plaintiff, equal to $4,000 or 20% of the case's value, whichever is higher.
(i) In cases that are dismissed sua sponte and/or before the defendant is summoned, legal fees shall not be awarded.
(f) Should the Commonwealth prosecute a citizen and subsequently fail to prevail in the legal proceedings, the prevailing citizen's legal counsel shall be entitled to recover legal fees from the Commonwealth, equal to $5,000 or 20% of the fines requested by the prosecution, whichever is higher.
(g) Any caps, limits, or other restrictions on legal fees need not apply in plea bargains and legal settlements, with the concurrence of both parties making the settlement. The judicial officer must not further diminish the agreed legal fee in the case of a settlement or plea bargain.
(h) The provisions outlined in subsections (e) and (f) shall apply to all legal proceedings initiated after the enactment of this bill, regardless of the date of the alleged incident or cause of action.”

§ 7.(2) of the Legal Damages Act shall be amended to its previous form, as follows:

“(2) Award:
(a) Consequential damages can be argued in conjunction with 4 - Compensatory Damages to negate diminutives of an award for compensatory damage.
(b) No plaintiff shall be awarded more than $150,000 in total consequential damages in a single case.
(b) Consequential damages shall have no cap if argued in conjunction with 5 - Punitive damages in cases involving “outrageous” conduct caused by the offending party.
(c) The award shall otherwise be capped at $50,000 dollars per individual consequential damage claim."