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| Georgia General Assembly |
HB524.html
01 LC 29 0039
House Bill
524
By: Representatives Wiles of the 34th,
Ehrhart of the 36th, Westmoreland of the 104th, Bunn of
the 74th, Smith of the 19th and others
A BILL TO BE
ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 1 of Chapter 19 of Title 15 of the Official
Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to attorneys generally, so as to create
duties, obligations, and penalties for attorneys in class action lawsuits; to
provide a short title; to provide legislative findings; to provide for related
matters; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
(a) This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Right
to Choose Your Attorney Act."
(b) The General Assembly
finds that:
(1) Every person should be entitled to
choose his or her own attorney;
(2) Every person
should be free to choose whether to become, or not to become, a plaintiff in a
lawsuit; and
(3) Individuals should be protected from
an attorney suing ostensibly in their behalf but without their
knowledge.
SECTION 2.
Article 1 of Chapter 19 of Title 15 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, relating to attorneys generally, is amended by inserting
after Code Section 15-19-4 a new Code Section 15-19-4.1 to read as
follows:
"15-19-4.1.
(a) An attorney may not represent or claim to represent, or
sue or claim to sue in behalf of, any person as a member of a putative or
certified class in accordance with Code Section 9-11-23 or any class action
removed or transferred to a court of this state from the court of another state
or a federal court, unless the attorney first provides to the court of this
state such
person´s
express written authorization to be so represented and to become a member of the
class. Such written authorization shall state that the person intends to retain
a specifically named attorney or firm and is aware of the legal consequences of
joining the specifically named litigation. The consequences shall include the
rights that a person will lose or waive by joining the class action, the
person´s
right to enter an appearance through his or her own counsel, and the
person´s
right not be included in the class action. Such written authorization shall
also state that the attorney has provided to such person a good faith estimate
of the dollar amount of any
attorney´s
fee, together with an explanation of how any
attorney´s
fee will be calculated and funded, and an explanation of the relative recoveries
that the attorney or firm and such person would receive if the claim is settled
or decided favorably.
(b) An attorney seeking to
represent a putative or certified class in any class action described in
subsection (a) of this Code section shall not solicit potential members of the
class. The court may in its discretion direct that the attorney seeking to
represent a putative or certified class provide and pay for notice to potential
class members of such information as would reasonably provide potential class
members with information to make an informed decision of whether to join the
class.
(c) No settlement of an action described in
subsection (a) of this Code section and no decision or judgment of a court in
any such action shall bind as a party any person who has not affirmatively
consented to joining such action as a member of the putative or certified
class.
(d) Any person who violates any provision of
this Code section in connection with any class action in a court of this state
shall be prohibited from representing any party in such action or in any other
action based upon or arising out of the subject matter of such action. In
addition, the court in any such action may subject any such person to an
appropriate sanction which may include an order to pay to the court a sum not to
exceed the greater of 10 percent of the amount in controversy in the action, 25
percent of the maximum potential contingency fee, if any, or $100,000.00, in the
discretion of the court. Willful violations of subsection (a) of this Code
section, if carried out by the filing of false information before a court of
this state, shall be punishable to the fullest extent provided under state
law."
SECTION 3.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the
Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval and shall apply to all
civil actions filed on or after such effective date.
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are
repealed.