Statement by Illinois Trial Lawyers Association in Response to ATRA’s Annual Junk Research Report
We totally agree with and support ITLA’s response to ATRA’s annual “junk research” report. Read this statement, and you will too.
Big Business Front Group Determined to Restrict Citizens’ Right to Courts and Reduce Corporate Accountability
It’s clear to anybody paying the least bit of attention that large, deep-pocket corporations increasingly dominate our political process.
The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) has received funding from a “who’s who” of corporate giants including Altria (formerly Philip Morris), Dow Chemical, Exxon, Aetna, Geico, State Farm, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. They are determined to block citizens from accessing courts so that they may escape accountability when their products or actions injure or kill innocent victims.
The truth is these corporations don’t fear frivolous lawsuits; they know our justice system screens out the very few suits that are without merit. What they fear are meritorious lawsuits – actions brought by citizens against corporations producing unsafe products, polluting our environment, swindling their employees to pad their profits, or otherwise acting irresponsibly.
American citizens rely on courts to hold these corporations accountable. It’s often only through our courts that citizens can get a fair shake, particularly when taking on such powerful special interests, and it’s appalling these businesses have devoted themselves to undermining our courts – the one place citizens may hold them accountable for their negligence.
This recycled annual “report” has been widely discredited and ridiculed in past years. It has been shown, time and time again, to be biased, junk “research” that only proves tort reform is simply a scheme by powerful corporations to avoid accountability in the courtroom and stack the deck against everyday Americans.
We oppose efforts designed to allow corporations to evade their legal responsibilities, even when they are grossly negligent, and we will oppose efforts to weaken basic legal protections and further stack the deck against the average person. This so-called “report” is nothing more than a public relations stunt designed to further their political and legislative strategies to prevent individual citizens from exercising their rights.
The “reform” they seek only takes away your right to receive justice and to hold corporate wrongdoers accountable for their actions. Our legal system serves as a powerful deterrent against corporate misconduct. Our citizens deserve better.
Jerry A. Latherow, President – Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
