Vested Interest - December 2002 Issue

The President’s Thoughts

In my first President’s Thoughts, I said that this year would be replete with opportunity for our organization. After November 5th, that amorphous opportunity now is a practical reality. We can influence the passage of legislation that protects the rights of negligently injured people in Illinois. How we capitalize on this opportunity will be our testament. I believe that some key descriptive words should guide our attempts: judiciousness, creativity and restraint.

I recently was reading a book that examined the impact of the leaders of our American Revolution. I found one passage in Joseph Ellis’ Founding Brothers to be germane to our situation here in Illinois.

"Hindsight, then, is a tricky tool. Too much of it and we obscure the all-evasive sense of contingency as well as the problematic character of the choices facing the revolutionary generation. On the other hand, without some measure of hindsight, some panoramic perspective on the past from our perch in the present, we lose the chief advantage - perhaps the only advantage - that the discipline of history provides, and we are then thrown without resources into the patternless swirl of events with all the time-bound participants themselves. What we need is a form of hindsight that does not impose itself arbitrarily on the mentality of the revolutionary generation, does not presume that we are witnessing the birth of an inevitable American superpower. We need a historical perspective that frames the issues with one eye on the precarious contingencies felt at the time, while the other eye looks forward to the more expansive consequences perceived dimly, if at all, by those trapped in the moment. We need, in effect, to be nearsighted and farsighted at the same time."

On the national level, the Democratic’s sweep in Illinois could prove to be Pyrrhic victory. We all know President Bush’s attitude toward the civil justice system, and now the Republicans have control of both the Senate and House. The battle ground apparently will be in the Senate. After the November elections, the Senate distribution is 51 Republicans, 47 Democrats, 1 independent who normally votes with the Democrats and 1 seat up for election in Louisiana on December 7th. There is every indication that the Republican majority will offer national and pervasive federal tort reform legislation that will preempt state law. The mechanism by which this type of legislation can be obviated is the use of a filibuster. A filibuster is a time-honored senatorial right to hold the floor of the Senate for as long as one wishes in order to delay or block legislation. The manner in which a filibuster is defeated is by the exercise of a cloture vote. The cloture rule was adopted in 1917 at the suggestion of President Woodrow Wilson. It allowed the Senate to end a debate with a two-thirds majority vote. In 1975, the Senate reduced the number of votes required for cloture from two-thirds (67) to three-fifths (60) of the 100 member Senate. In order for any tort reform legislation to be defeated, 41 votes are needed to stop cloture. Our ATLA representatives inform us that there are several Democratic senators that may support different aspects of tort reform. ATLA is formulating and implementing a campaign to educate legislators as to the deleterious impact of federal tort reform. ATLA needs our help, and I encourage every member of ITLA to consider a contribution to this cause. It certainly would be a supreme irony if our well earned gains here in Illinois were wiped out by federal legislation.

On November 21, 2002, Ralph Gabric, a member of our Board of Managers died. Ralph Gabric was a former President of the Illinois State Bar Association. He was a brilliant lawyer, a compassionate advocate and a wonderful human being. He was everything that each of us should aspire to emulate. We will miss him.

Finally, I hope that every member and their families have a wonderful and safe holiday season.

Robert J. Bingle, President
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association