The recent explosion of news coverage that the California Attorney General’s office, under Bill Lockyer, inappropriately hid millions of dollars in contracts should serve as a wake-up call to Californians. It is time to create some oversight and disclosure laws for the Attorney General’s office and the non-government parties it retains.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Central California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CCCALA) is reminding Americans that there is a fine line between love and litigation. 

CCCALA president, Diann Rogers, sheds light on former California attorney general’s office—Lockyer improperly hid millions in contracts.

If the leaders of the new Democratic majority in Congress are really serious about holding down health care costs, they can prove it by enacting meaningful tort reform early next year. The legal system has become a lottery for high-priced lawyers who often recruit plaintiffs, then pocket billions of dollars from jury awards, adding to the skyrocketing cost of health insurance for everybody else.

The urgency here is seen in the fact that the costs of lawsuit abuse have exceeded the gross domestic product for the past half-century, according to a report by Tillinghast-Towers-Perrin research firm. No wonder lawsuit abuse cost more than $246 billion, or $3,380 for a family of four, in 2003, the most recent year for which data is available.

Class-action lawsuits can significantly slow or halt science’s ability to establish links between neurological illness and environmental factors produced by industry, a team of scientists and lawyers warns in the journal Neurology.

California has a new “top cop” and we offer congratulations to Jerry Brown on his victory.  At the same time, however, Mr. Brown should know the 30,000 supporters of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) in California are going to hold him to his word.

This summer, the makers of small, disposable respirator masks (which sell for about $1 each) startled Congress and health care leaders when they announced that Americans might not have access to these devices in the event of a flu pandemic.

How could this small device suddenly be in “ominously short supply,” as reported by Business Week magazine? This is America. Surely, we are prepared to protect our first responders, health care workers and anyone else who might be affected in this dire situation.

Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) has announced its “Loony Lawsuit” for July. This month’s frivolity looks at how you can sue someone for anything – even for looking like you.

According to a July 2006 news story on KGW-TV (NBC), a Portland man who bears a resemblance to Michael Jordan has filed a lawsuit against the basketball superstar saying he’s been mistaken for Jordan nearly every day over the past 15 years and he’s tired of it.

Re “Liability costs up for city, county,” May 5: I wholeheartedly commend Sacramento City Attorney Samuel Jackson for refusing to settle frivolous lawsuits against the city just to get rid of them. He’s absolutely right in this position. Settling frivolous cases only encourages more unscrupulous people to file more abusive lawsuits.If more public and private entities would follow Jackson’s example, perhaps the $845 we all pay each year as a lawsuit tax for litigation and settlements would start to go down.

...(Sacramento) county resolved 61 percent of its cases last year without making any payments.  Following a different strategy, City Attorney Samuel Jackson said the city will not settle frivolous cases just to get rid of them.  “If it costs us $5,000 to get rid of a $1,000 claim, we’ll do it because that is going to get rid of 50 of these types of claims,” Jackson said.

Jackson noted that the city settled about seven out of 10 cases last fiscal year without paying out any money. “That’s pretty high,” he said.

Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, reacting to a recently released report by Tillinghast-Towers Perrin that states that costs on society due to lawsuits have increased by 4%, is using April 15, “Tax Day” to highlight the impact that lawsuit abuse has on our communities and our quality of life. 

Central California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CCCALA), furious with the self serving agenda of the state’s personal injury lawyer lobby, today delivered a tax bill for $30,420,000,000 to participants of the lawyer group’s “Lobby Day” taking place in Sacramento.  This sum represents the extra cost all Californians will pay this year thanks to the “lawsuit tax” placed on all goods and services. 

Central California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CCCALA) has announced its latest Loony Lawsuit for the month of March. This month’s frivolity looks at how personal responsibility is a thing of the past and the current mantra in the U.S. court system is “it’s not my fault.”

The Central California/Sacramento region of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CCCALA) today applauded the signing of S. 5, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 as a major step toward reducing abusive class action litigation and recognized one long-time CALA leader for his role in the President Bush’s tort reform efforts.  Diann Rogers, executive director of the Central Valley and Sacramento regional group is available for interviews to discuss this landmark event in reform of our nation’s civil justice system. 

Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse announced its Loony Lawsuit for the month of February.  This month’s frivolity comes from the Rocky Mountain State of Colorado, where two teenage girls decided one summer’s evening to skip a dance to stay home and bake cookies for their neighbors.