mr. speaker , not too long ago , our nation 's courts were a place where americans were able to seek justice . 
today , however , the system has become a playground for personal injury trial lawyers as they file sham , abusive cases in lawsuit-friendly counties . 
and all too often the attorneys collect multimillion-dollar settlements for themselves , while their clients , the real victims , get left with nothing more than a coupon , often worth nothing more than the paper upon which it is printed . 
recently , a large national video rental chain , after being named in 23 class-action lawsuits , agreed to provide consumers in the lawsuit with dollar coupons , and attorneys in this case received over $ 9 million . 
even more outrageous is the case where consumers were awarded 33 cents each in a settlement with a well-known national bank , not even enough to buy a stamp , while attorneys in the case walked away with $ 4 million . 
mr. speaker , this amount of money distorts the incentives for personal injury lawyers . 
they no longer represent their clients ; they become coplaintiffs . 
it is past time we did something about it . 
that is why we should return commonsense justice to the american people by passing s. 5 , the class action fairness act . 
