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Washington, DC, April 5, 2005 —
The
American
Tort Reform Association convened for its annual
membership meeting on April 5th in Washington to review the
organization’s annual report, elect a new Board of Directors,
and discuss plans for 2005.
In the legislative meeting that followed, several major figures
in the campaign for legal reform joined ATRA members to
discuss the importance of the work being done by the
organization. Keynote speaker
Harriet
Miers, Counsel to the President, was joined by ATRA
President
Tiger
Joyce, American Justice Partnership Chairman
Steve
Hantler (Chrysler LLC),
National
Association of Manufacturers President and former
Michigan Governor
John Engler;
Cam Crawford, Executive Director, South Carolinians for Tort
Reform; and ATRA’s General Counsel,
Victor
Schwartz, who is a partner of Shook Hardy & Bacon.
 Speakers lauded ATRA for its effective legal reform
advocacy, especially with the release of the comprehensive
Judicial Hellholes 2004®
report, which identifies the counties across the country where
the trial bar has created a pro-plaintiff legal climate prone to
high jury awards and court rulings unfairly favorable to
plaintiffs. Talking about the report, Tiger Joyce said, “[It]
was the most comprehensive and successful to date. We reached
millions of people through earned media including a live
broadcast by C-SPAN of our press event at the National Press
Club. Our Hellholes report has and will continue to play a
critical role in shining the spotlight on the abuses of our
legal system and providing solutions to problems in the
Hellholes.”
Joyce reiterated the importance of the members of ATRA
stating, “The past record-setting year for states enacting civil
justice reforms was possible because of the support of ATRA
members”. As legal reform takes center stage in many state
legislatures, ATRA’s commitment to support reform will be
evident through their continued research and development of
in-depth solutions. Joyce concluded his remarks by addressing
the goals of ATRA’s 2005 agenda, commenting, “We will
continue working closely with states that are trying to fix
their broken legal systems and work on the federal level to help
push through important legislation.”
 Steve Hantler introduced John Engler saying, “Governor Engler
brings to the national level his passion for tort reform and the
major success in tort reform he achieved during his three terms
as Michigan’s governor.”
John Engler had high praise for Tiger Joyce. “The true measure
of a leader is in how you respond to adversity,” said Gov.
Engler. “I believe Tiger Joyce has proven himself to be a
strong and resolute leader. Today we are beginning to see some
truly exciting results of the work he has done, and that is
profound testimony to his leadership.”
Gov. Engler left no doubt about the commitment of NAM to achieve
legal reform. “Everywhere I go the story is the same –
frivolous lawsuits, venue abuse and jackpot justice are
strangling job growth. For all of our members, and for the
future of our country, it is vital that we achieve real legal
reforms at the state level to create a fair and predictable
legal system from coast to coast.”
He went on to point out that NAM helped to organize the
American
Justice Partnership to accomplish three goals:
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To
win public support for pro-reform candidates for governor,
legislatures, supreme courts and attorney general;
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To enact
legislation and court rules that substantially reduce, if
not eliminate, incentives for frivolous lawsuits, excessive
claims and verdicts;
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And to motivate
the public to support reforms.
 Harriet Miers,
Counsel to the President, echoed the need for legal
reform, saying that the President fully supports reforms to end
lawsuit abuse. She pointed out that while the Class Action
Fairness Act took almost seven years to pass in the Congress,
the President intends to make comprehensive legal reform a
priority in his second term.
ATRA General Counsel Victor Schwartz added, “Most attempts at
legal reform have gone down because of divisions in the business
community, not because of the trial lawyers. The only practical
solution is
LARA (Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act, H.B. 420),
because it restores the business community with weaponry against
baseless and frivolous lawsuits.”
Schwartz went on to identify the three major threats to the
U.S. civil justice system, and outlined ATRA’s ongoing role in
creating solutions to these problems. Through what he has termed
litigation tourism (plaintiff lawyers presenting cases in venues
where plaintiffs have no pre-existing claim to personal or
business opportunities) combined with ATRA’s Hellhole
jurisdictions, Schwartz fears the destruction of our legal
system. He articulated two other major problems: the dangerous
alliance between state attorneys general and contingency fee
trial lawyers and the frivolous cases brought as a result of
inadequate consumer protection laws. |
