March 15, 2007

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.