Trial lawyers change a name, not their game

Atlanta Business Chronicle - August 25, 2006
by Dan Pero

What's the difference between a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the American Association for Justice?

Absolutely nothing.

But in a telling development, the nation's premier trial lawyer group has changed its name from the former to the latter.

Why?

The head of the newly renamed organization, Mike Eidson, clearly hopes the new name will change the public's perception of the trial bar. "It's a good change that reflects what we do and not who we are," said Eidson, admitting the trial bar has a serious image problem.

Americans have come to realize that the trial bar is not pursuing "justice" as much as it is pursuing profits. Consider class-action lawsuits where plaintiffs often walk away with little, if anything, while the legal team pockets millions.

The net effects are clear: escalating insurance premiums driving large numbers of doctors out of business; corporate bankruptcies throwing thousands out of work; and tort costs inflating consumer prices for everyone else.

The Council of Economic Advisors reports that more is now spent on lawsuits than the government spends on education, training and employment; general science, space and technology; conservation and land management.

The American public also knows that the trial lawyer industry has made itself into one of the most powerful forces in modern American politics, including here in Georgia.

During this election year, Supreme Court Justice Carol Huntstein, the only incumbent with a declared opponent, has raised $232,970 through June 30. Of the nearly 170 contributors to her campaign, all but nine are lawyers or law firms.

Why so many political contributions? Easy. To protect profits and to support politicians who resist public demands for legal reform.

Americans know that when people adopt an alias, it's usually because they've got something to hide. The American Association for Justice, aka the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, may have changed its name, but the game remains the same.

Pero is president of American Justice Partnership, a coalition of national and local organizations dedicated to promoting legal reform that supported Georgia's 2005 legal reforms.