Big corporations and one of their front groups, ATRA, the “American Tort Reform Assoc”, are at it again. Just another campaign to try and indoctrinate the public with the idea that lawsuits are bad and that victims of others negligence are just greedy people looking for a big payout. DO NOT BE FOOLED! These groups are NOT looking out for your interestes, and it is vitally important that you tell your friends and neighbors not to be lulled into thinking this way. If you or a loved one are seriously injured in an accident, do you want people on your jury thinking you are just trying to win the lottery? True justice is holding negligent people and corporations responsible for the full scope of damage they cause. The following was written by Todd Smith, the President of the Illinios Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Smith is a great lawyer and I quote in its entirety a recent note by him:

Statement by the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association on the “judicial hellhole” report
(December 14, 2010)

The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) has once again teamed up with corporate giants such as Philip Morris, Dow Chemical, Exxon, General Electric, Aetna, Geico, State Farm, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Nationwide to release its annual “judicial hellhole” report today. The report is nothing more than a public relations stunt bankrolled by insurance, tobacco and drug companies to attack the civil justice system and gain complete immunity for their negligent behavior.

This report is yet proof that corporations will say or do anything to weaken Americans’ basic legal protections. They call for “reform” in our civil justice system only so they can avoid accountability when their products injure or kill innocent victims. The “reform” they seek only takes away your right to receive justice and to hold corporate wrongdoers accountable for their actions.

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.

For years, the most deceitful and predatory corporations have used groups like ATRA to prevent everyday Americans from receiving justice. When big businesses act irresponsibly – by producing unsafe products, polluting our environment or swindling their employees and shareholders – the last resort for ordinary citizens to hold those businesses accountable is in our courts. Our legal system serves as a powerful deterrent against corporate misconduct.

Todd A. Smith
President – Illinois Trial Lawyers Association

When you see adds like ATRAs or by State Farm Insurance or Allstate Insurance, always remember whose interests they are advocating. Is State Farm really “like a good neighbor” when you are injured by a person insured by State Farm? I can assure you of one thing about the good neighbor people and whether you are in good hands with any insurance company when it comes time to pursue a claim: the claims handler only job is to pay you the least amount of money to get the claim closed. Those claim handlers are NOT looking out for your interests at all. That is exactly why you need a good lawyer on your side. Talk to your family, friends and neighbors, and remind them that the civil justice system is there to serve YOU when YOU need it most! And all of the advertising about tort reform, or the need for medical malpractice reform, or insurance company ads are all designed to lull people sitting on juries to believe that those seeking justice for injuries are only out there looking for a windfall. Be safe.