EDITORIAL

OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM IS THE CORNERSTONE OF OUR

INDIVIDUAL FREEDOMS

The "know-nothing" anti-lawyer attack by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

is beneath the intelligence and dignity of local chambers

By William F. Gallagher

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has begun a nationwide initiative to restructure the civil justice system. In a campaign created by the new president of the U.S. Chamber, Thomas Donohue, the Chamber has decided to undertake an extensive tort "reform" campaign on a state-by-state basis, starting with a handful of targeted states. The tort reform campaign is being bolstered by a coordinated newspaper media blitz with state and city chambers of commerce around the country, and the Washington Legal Forum.

The states that are facing tort reform proposals and bills that may be connected to a local or national chamber of commerce campaign are Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, New York, Mississippi, Washington state, and West Virginia. The proposals are unified by a common theme of reducing consumers’ access to the courts, or placing ceilings on recoveries for those who are injured. As the campaign gains momentum, new states will be added to the tort "reform" battle.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is collecting millions of dollars from tobacco companies, insurance companies, manufacturing giants, and its other 200,000 corporate members to run its public relations campaign, which includes paid media, public relations, lobbying and litigation, to misinform consumers that they end up paying the cost of court judgments. The first target will be the legal fees paid in the tobacco litigation.

It is imperative that we do not allow this anti-consumer, anti-worker, anti-family campaign to go unchallenged. ATLA President Richard Hailey has stated that "Americans believe in personal and corporate responsibility, and they will not be fooled by this self-serving effort to convince them that profits are more important than the lives and safety of American families."

The U.S. Chamber’s attack will only serve to erode and undermine the public’s confidence in our legal system and the work that all lawyers do in protecting civil liberties and individual rights. Our judicial system is the cornerstone of our individual freedoms. The chamber’s "know-nothing" anti-lawyer and anti-trial lawyer campaign is simply beneath the intelligence and dignity of the local chambers as well as the national chamber.

We urge our members to write to the U.S. Chamber expressing dissatisfaction with the anti-lawyer campaign, and explaining why such an initiative is inappropriate. We also ask our members to encourage and enlist other law firms not members of CTLA who are active in the chamber to take up the issue.

We specifically ask those of you who are members of your local chamber not to threaten resignation or withdrawal, but instead to remain active in the chamber and work to ensure that chamber members have a better understanding of and a healthy respect for the work that all lawyers do.

It is likely that every chamber member has enlisted the assistance of a lawyer to handle some legal matter. No doubt the vast majority of those associations have resulted in satisfactory lawyer-client relationships. Non-lawyer chamber members need to understand that their ability and the ability of all citizens to obtain fair and just results from the legal system is undermined every time the public hears anecdotal half-truths questioning the quality of justice, and is subject to unfounded personal attacks on those who practice law.

As long as our adversaries and their myths go unchallenged, the scales of justice will be in jeopardy. We need everyone’s help.