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  they no longer represent their clients ; they become coplaintiffs .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 .  