MassMutual Supports President's Call for Action On Tort Reform

The MassMutual Financial Group today applauded President George W. Bush's meeting with a bipartisan group of Members of Congress at which he called for showing "the American people that both parties are willing to work together to solve problems." The President stated that there is "a problem with class-action lawsuits; it is a problem that we all recognize, and it's a problem we intend to fix."

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), ranked 90 on the Fortune 500 list of America's largest companies, actively supports tort reform to limit the abuse of large, nationwide class action cases while ensuring justice for truly injured parties. While class action lawsuits are an important part of the U.S. legal system, MassMutual CEO Robert J. OConnell noted that "the current class action system is heavily abused by trial lawyers who 'shop' cases in plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions."

The proposed Federal class action reform legislation -- titled The Class Action Fairness Act -- recognizes that large interstate class action lawsuits deserve Federal court access because such suits typically impact more citizens and implicate more interstate commerce issues than any other types of lawsuits. Importantly, these class action reforms do not alter the right of a plaintiff to bring a legitimate claim or change controlling substantive law, and at the same time prevent the abusive venue shopping that clogs the courts.

During his first floor speech of the newly seated 109th Congress on Jan. 4, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) stated his intention to "bring class action reform to the floor early next month." He continued, "I'm confident we'll pass this bill and take a big first step to restoring sanity and fairness to our legal system."

The sentiments of President Bush and Majority Leader Frist were echoed in bipartisan fashion by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) who commented, "there's a very good chance...of getting a class action reform bill done."

MassMutual looks forward to working with the Bush Administration, said Ken Cohen, senior vice president & deputy general counsel. "We're excited to have the opportunity to work with Members on both sides of the political aisle in the House and the Senate. Our goal is to help achieve meaningful, real class-action lawsuit reform for the benefit of working Americans, small business owners and consumers."

MassMutual Financial Group -- comprised of member companies with $285 billion of assets under management as of year-end 2003 -- is a global, growth-oriented, diversified financial services organization providing life insurance, annuities, disability income insurance, long-term care insurance, retirement planning products, structured settlement annuities, trust services, money management, and other financial products and services.

The MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing designation (or fleet name) for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company and its affiliates, which include: OppenheimerFunds Inc.; Babson Capital Management LLC; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC; MML Investors Services Inc.; The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB; Antares Capital Corporation; MML Bay State Life Insurance Company; C.M. Life Insurance Company; and MassMutual International, Inc. MassMutual is on the Internet at http://www.massmutual.com.