These include bills similar to California's decade-old
Private Attorneys General Act, which lets employees sidestep arbitration clauses by bringing claims on behalf of the government.
Van Amburg said she and her fellow SLU grads were inspired by a clinic they'd taken on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which allowed lawyers to act as
private attorneys general to enforce the law's antidiscrimination provisions.
Fee-shifting and
private attorneys general enforcement are not novel concepts, either in federal or Maryland law.
Congress intended that private litigants would primarily enforce the ADA, and hotels risk the costs of litigation, including class action litigation by
private attorneys general. According to Orlick, when exposed to private litigation, it can include damages in many jurisdictions, including attorneys' fees and costs.
In addition, justices said unions cannot bring representative actions under the state's five-year-old
Private Attorneys General Act because they are not "aggrieved employees."
Resources are scarce for government enforcement, and few "
private attorneys general" are willing to step forward.
needs
private attorneys general to assist in protecting victims'
Schwarzenegger helped revise the California
Private Attorneys General Act of 2004, which created new penalty risks for employers and formed the cornerstone of hundreds of class-action lawsuits alleging Labor Code violations ranging from overtime pay practices to workplace poster font size infractions.
Simmons said it was key, in his opinion, to empower residents to act as "
private attorneys general" to enforce the law, noting the legislature had enacted similar provisions in other laws.
The theory behind this departure from the traditional rule under which each side pays its own costs is that the plaintiffs are serving a role in the legal system that extends beyond their own interests, acting as "
private attorneys general" to vindicate federally guaranteed rights.
Legislative use of
private attorneys general to enforce set norms has long been a familiar part of American government.