Vested Interest - July 1998 Issue

The President’s Thoughts

As we move into the summer months, the tone of my year as President has, at least in part, been set by recent events. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, through its President, declared an all-out attack on trial lawyers across the country calling us the "enemies of business." On the local level, last month the Illinois Civil Justice League wrote a letter of solicitation to potential members. It began by stating, in bold print, "1995 marked the beginning of the end for the personal injury trial lawyers and their hand picked candidates."

As I mentioned in my comments at the Annual Convention, these attacks and other similar ones will fail. They will fail because the basic philosophy underlying the work of plaintiffs' trial attorneys is morally and economically correct. We try to protect the rights of those disadvantaged members of society, injured by accident or discrimination, who are least equipped financially to protect themselves. A theme of helping individuals predominates our approach to the law. And I might add that most trial lawyers, like most people, are good, decent, hardworking citizens.

Those attending the Convention had the opportunity to hear from the Democratic Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Dick Gephardt. He spoke in an inspiring fashion about the attacks on trial lawyers and our legal system, some of which they attempt to justify under the guise of trying to improve our global competitiveness. The supreme irony is that internationally, our system of laws, including tort and contract, are the envy of the developing nations and economies. Those countries are convinced they will never really progress until fundamental rights are secured, and a system of laws protecting personal rights and property rights is in place. In the name of global competitiveness, groups in our society are attacking the basic fundamentals which, in fact, strengthen our economy.

The response to these groups must be measured. We will not, as they have done on occasion, personalize an attack. We will not reduce it to name calling. We will not generalize, as they have done, by characterizing all business, manufacturers and insurance companies as the reason for the ills of our society. In the end, there must be a fair balance between the right to reasonable profits and the rights of the consumer and victims.

It was gratifying to read an article in a recent ABA Journal, "A Lesson Learned - How a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Plan to Boost Membership by Attacking Lawyers Backfired Before It was Launched." We learned that after the anti-trial lawyers remarks by U.S. Chamber President Thomas Donohue, there was a growing dissent from state and local chambers. The Chamber did not anticipate the organized opposition to their positions. ABA President Jerome Shestakfelt there was a lot of damage done by the statements, and said, "What is needed is an apology to the trial lawyers of this country." I know we will see a different approach by the U.S. Chamber in the future.

The recent attacks by special interest groups are directed not only at trial lawyers, but also to the members of the judiciary. Some are personalized and almost all are inaccurate, inappropriate and motivated by an attitude "if you don't rule for my position, you are not a good judge." The criticism of the judiciary has come from not only special interest groups, but unfortunately from other branches of the government. The State of Illinois through its Constitution, even more so than the federal government, emphasizes the separate and equal power of each branch of government. Where necessary and appropriate, we will vigorously speak out in defense of the independence of the judiciary.

On another note, some of the most important skills as trial attorneys relate to the written and spoken word. As to the spoken word, we can be very proud of our continuing legal education program, one of the finest in Illinois. I was fortunate early in my career as a supreme court law clerk to appreciate the value of the written word. The opportunity to write and to be published is very important to all attorneys. We have so much talent in this Association and so many interesting trial topics. During the summer, I will test the waters to see if there is interest in a trial journal similar to the ones in the past. This could be a great opportunity for younger and older attorneys alike, to present fine quality trial articles and for all of us to benefit from transcripts from portions of interesting trials. Have a relaxing and enjoyable summer.

Martin J. Healy, Jr.
President, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association