PointofLaw.com
 Subscribe Subscribe   Find us on Twitter Follow POL on Twitter  
   
 
   

 

 

One-way fee-shifting



The Colorado Civil Justice League correctly identifies its unfairness:

The CCJL would like to thank Chris Ottele from the law firm of Holme, Roberts and Owen for his tireless work helping us negotiate a satisfactory settlement over a particularly troubling employment litigation bill, HB1247. As we notified you last week, this bill originally created treble damages for wage-claim violations and eliminated the right of employers to seek attorneys' fees and court costs when they prevailed in a case.

The CCJL has always insisted on a "level playing field" in fee-shifting arrangements - both sides should be able to recover fees and costs or neither side should - and we will clearly need to keep reminding legislators why that is important. Permitting only employees to recover costs and fees paints a litigation target on the backs of Colorado's employers. It is all upside and no downside for employees who want to sue their bosses. One-way fee shifting eliminates the only meaningful disincentive to filing meritless claims.

More here and here and, at Overlawyered, here, here and here.

 

 


Isaac Gorodetski
Project Manager,
Center for Legal Policy at the
Manhattan Institute
igorodetski@manhattan-institute.org

Bridget Carroll
Press Officer,
Manhattan Institute
bcarroll@manhattan-institute.org

 

Published by the Manhattan Institute

The Manhattan Insitute's Center for Legal Policy.