The following op-ed (Fairness requires accountability) by ITLA President Peter J. Flowers appeared in the State Journal-Register on September 1, 2009. The response (Consumers' rights are protected by courts) also appeared in The Southern Illinoisan on September 1, 2009, as a guest column.

In his recent Op-Ed, Travis Akin appears to blame all the problems facing Illinois on our court system. Some of his claims are just plain silly: our present high unemployment rate is an effect of the current recession, and citizens moving to the Sun Belt is a population shift shared by all Midwestern and Northern states. Contrary to Mr. Akin's beliefs, neither has occurred because of any court action.

However, there is one area where I am in complete agreement with Mr. Akin, and that's his call for our courts to be fair. How we define fairness is an altogether different matter.

For Mr. Akin and the business interests he represents, fairness is a one-way street. They see any attempt to ensure the consumer has rights as horribly unfair, and they have worked for years to protect their interests over the health and safety of the citizens of Illinois.

In the real world, we use the word "fair" to mean just and equitable, but in Mr. Akin's world, a patient permanently disabled by a physician or hospital's negligence would be left without means to care for themselves because it wouldn't be "fair" to the people that caused the injury.

He also seems to believe that businesses shouldn't be constrained by concerns over the safety of their workplaces, their public spheres, or even their products. Such concerns, claims Mr. Akin, hurt commerce and simply isn't fair.

Infants dying from poorly designed bassinettes made headlines around the country last year. One would think any business whose product caused a child's death would pull such a thing off the market without being asked to, but that is rarely the case. Just this past week a report was published about two more babies who died because of the dangerous design of these bassinettes.

Too many manufacturers, whether the product is asbestos, deadly drugs, or products that kill babies, do not change their ways unless forced, and that force comes from the courts.

The court system also provides the citizens of Illinois with a method of seeking redress from those who have injured them. When a young mother is left permanently disabled by medical negligence, and her family faces a future of constant - and costly - care, do we say to them, "Sorry, but it wouldn't be fair to hold anyone accountable."

No. What is fair - what is just and equitable - is a court system that protects those who have been injured by the actions of others and protects the rest of us from dangerous products and negligent behavior.

Peter J. Flowers
President
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
St. Charles