Protecting West Virginia’s Civil Justice System and the Rights of West
Virginia’s Consumers, Workers, Small Business Owners and Their Families.
The Truth About Tort Reform
Who’s Behind the Effort? Corporate Front Groups
For more than 30 years, the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and its largest corporate members, including the insurance industry, have been behind the effort to weaken your ability to hold them accountable in our civil courts. Not content with direct lobbying and PR campaigns, they established front groups. While these groups claim to be independent—and some go so far as to claim they represent “citizens”—the Chamber and those corporations are funding the effort.
American Tort Reform Association (ATRA)
Founded in 1986
Claims to have “135,000 grassroots supporters” and that its membership is diverse and includes “nonprofits, small and large companies, as well as state and national trade, business and professional associations.”
The TRUTH: “Members are largely Fortune 500 companies with direct financial stake in restricting lawsuits” including “the tobacco, insurance, chemical, auto and pharmaceutical industries.” (Center for Justice and Democracy)
Effort has included releasing its annual “Judicial Hellhole” report, which has been discredited widely by both the media and legal scholars
Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA)
ATRA’s international public relations firm, APCO Worldwide, created a new group for the effort in the early 1990s—Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse
CALAs claim to be grassroots organizations led and funded by ordinary citizens
The TRUTH: CALAs “represent major corporations and industries seeking to escape liability for the harm they cause consumers.” They are funded by “large corporate donors, including tobacco, insurance, oil and gas, chemical and pharmaceutical companies, medical associations and automobile manufacturers.” They also receive direct financial support from their parent group, ATRA. (Center for Justice and Democracy)
- A Philip Morris document from 1993 states that “APCO has been setting up . . . Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse chapters . . . I would argue that it is important to continue because grass roots agitation for tort reform helps to protect [our interests.]” (“Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse” – www.sourcewatch.org)
- “CALAs [are] part of a national corporate backed network of front groups that receive substantial financial assistance from ATRA, APCO and some of America’s biggest corporations.” (The CALA Files, Center for Justice and Democracy)
West Virginia’s CALA group was established in 1994. For more than 20 years, its leadership has refused to answer reporters’ questions about who is really funding the organization.
U. S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR)
In 1998, the U. S. Chamber developed an affiliated organization to push for tort reforms directly—the U. S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. ILR was created to “address the country’s litigation explosion.”
Its effort has included releasing a discredited annual ranking of the nation’s court systems
Do As I Say, Not As I Do -- While spending millions to limit access to the courts for consumers, workers and small businesses, a study revealed that the U. S. Chamber enters lawsuits at the rate of more than twice a week. (The Chamber Litigation Machine: How the Chamber Uses Lawsuits to Keep Americans Out of Court)
The ILR’s mission includes “neutralizing” the influence of attorneys in elections
At the same time, the Chamber has challenged laws requiring disclosure of the corporate donors behind its political advertising, citing that the donors would withdraw support if disclosure was a risk. (U. S. Chamber amicus brief in Citizens United)
According to Open Secrets, the U. S. Chamber spent $35,472,011.00 in the 2014 elections, including more than $21,500,000 in direct candidate contributions. The Chamber spent more than $35.6 million in 2012 elections and more than $32.3 million in 2010 elections. Contributors to these efforts are not disclosed.
Foundation for Fair Civil Justice (formerly American Justice Partnership)
Launched in 2005 by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) for the purpose of “leading national and state organizations to coordinate the fight for effective legal reform.” (www.legalreforminthenews.com)
FFCJ head Steven Hantler wrong in a Washington Times column that the effort should include a direct attack by business on the reputation of trial lawyers.” (“Targeting ‘White Knights’—Rallying the Public on Tort Reform, Washington Times, August 23, 2005)
A NAM survey of manufacturers shows, however, that litigation ranks at the bottom of their list of concerns regarding business operations.
Legal Newsline and Record Newspapers
To advance their efforts, the U. S. Chamber and its Institute for Legal Reform began Legal Newsline and Record newspapers.
The newspapers claim to be independent “legal journals,” but editorial control belongs solely to the Chamber and ILR
The newspapers are distributed free of charge and are available online—but with no disclosure that they are funded by the Chamber and ILR
The West Virginia Record began publication in 2006. There are similar papers in Illinois, Texas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania.
WVAJ AFFINITY PARTNERS
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Telephone: (304) 344 - 0692
Fax: (304) 343 - 7926
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208 Capitol Street, Suite 100
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