Before the ink was dry on the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, it was widely decried by plaintiffs attorneys and consumer groups as a blow to consumer rights and celebrated by tort reformers as a rousing victory for big business.
Corporate defendants cheered CAFA as a tool to end costly and abusive class actions brought in remote jurisdictions. Plaintiffs feared the act would mark an end to the class action as an effective tool to rein in corporate abuse and weaken the ability of citizens with small individual claims to join forces to take on corporate America.
