The Hypocrites Of Tort Reform Advocates
Who Changed Their Tunes
Emily Gottlieb
Deputy director of the Center for Justice & Democracy. No one likes
a hypocrite. Yet one would
be hard pressed to find more hypocrites
than in the "tort reform" movement.
Take a look at the record of a host
of lawmakers, lobbyists and even
journalists who complain about lawsuits
and argue that the rights of injured
consumers to go to court should be
scaled back because we are too "litigious."
When they or family members
are hurt and need compensation for
their own injuries, often minor ones,
these same individuals do not hesitate
to use the courts to obtain compensation,
to right a wrong, to hold a wrongdoer
accountable or to obtain justice. The
same is true for corporations that
have funded the "tort reform" movement.
These companies support efforts to
immunize themselves from liability
for harming consumers. But when these
same companies believe they have been
wronged by a business competitor, they
are the first to sue.
In this report we take
a look at the cases of several proponents
of tort restrictions who do not "practice
what they preach." We examine
individuals who have sued sometimes
for millions of dollars while at the
same time championing damage caps and
other severe liability restrictions
for others. We also look at corporate
litigants who have lent financial or
other support to groups like the American
Tort Reform Association, the Manhattan
Institute and state business coalitions
like New Yorkers for Civil Justice
Reform.
Notably, tort restrictions
advocated by these organizations
virtually never limit the rights
of corporations to sue business competitors
for commercial losses. This
list is by no means exhaustive but
merely representative of businesses
and other "tort reformers" who
say one thing but do another when
it comes to the civil justice system.
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