Oregon rarely has an opportunity to correct an egregious wrong while reaping great community benefit, and at zero cost to the public. The Oregon Legislature has just such an opportunity in House Bill 4143, which would give Legal Aid the unclaimed funds from class-action lawsuits. Opponents characterize this as complex in order to confuse and delay. It is not complex, and we have long-settled practices in 48 other states as evidence.

In short, class-action lawsuits are filed when a corporate defendant is accused of wrongdoing, but often in dollar amounts that make it untenable for a single individual to seek redress in court. So the victims are placed together in a “class” as one way to hold a business accountable for their actions.

When a class-action lawsuit like this ends in either a jury verdict or a settlement, a judgment identifies the dollar amount owed by the defendant to the members of the “class” who were harmed. That money is then paid to class members. Inevitably, some members of a class cannot be located, or simply do not respond. Thus the crux of the issue: Return the unclaimed dollars to the corporate defendant, or give it to charity.

Every state in the union — except Oregon and New Hampshire — directs these funds to a charitable purpose under a doctrine seeking the “next best purpose” for the funds. In Oregon, however, we return these unclaimed funds to the defendant found to have engaged in some sort of wrongdoing (or who settled willingly on a dollar figure rather than fight allegations before a jury).

This is like finding 50 stolen TVs, and letting the burglar keep those for whom the rightful owner cannot be found.

The Oregon legislature will soon vote on a bill that would direct the unclaimed damages to legal services for the poor. Legal Aid provides help to Oregon’s poor to keep them safe in domestic violence crises, or when they are unlawfully facing loss of housing, food or wages.

As the economic recession has played out, the system has been woefully unable to meet a rapidly rising need for services. As those eligible for legal aid in Oregon has grown by nearly 62 percent, Legal Aid has lost 20 percent of its funding and closed two offices. Major funding sources have flattened, while others have nearly dried up. The current status? Legal Aid now meets roughly 15 percent of the need for help for Oregon’s most vulnerable citizens in life-altering legal crises.

Oregon can do better. This bill would help mend the safety net for Oregon’s poor.

Some have argued that this should wait until the longer legislative session in 2015. We cannot wait.

First, this is not a complex change in the law, and 48 other states have already seen the doctrine well-tested.

Second, the bill calls for establishment of an endowment to hold these funds and for the interest to go to Legal Aid. It will take time to set up and begin to generate interest. Given the crisis Legal Aid faces, the time to act is now.

Further, there are cases currently open and moving toward judgment that could impact the early establishment of this fund. While I recognize that the corporate defendants in those cases would prefer to not pay the full amount of the judgments, I do believe this is a gaping hole in Oregon law that merits correction today.

— Dennis Karnopp is a member of Karnopp Petersen in Bend, and a past president of the Oregon State Bar.