Beware of Tort Reform's Effect on Jurors
Following up on Howard Nations’ presentation at the Southern Trial Lawyer’s Fall Retreat. Howard talked about how we were two steps behind before we uttered our first words. When the country is at war in two countries, bankruptcies are at record levels and the price is over $3 a gallon and the President gets on the television and tell people that trial lawyers are the biggest problem facing this country, people believe it.
When so many states are changing the laws and basic ground rules of the civil justice system and calling it tort reform, people believe it.
This has a profound effect on potential jurors. Just the fact that state legislators are enacting tort reform means that there was a problem that had to be fixed. Regardless of the facts. I was there at the statehouse (although not nearly as much as Fayrell Furr, John Nichols, Preston McDaniel and our wonderful staff at SCTLA) and the legislators admitted that the facts were on our side, that there was no huge litigation explosion, but that the business community was demanding changes. Those of us who have been watching have seen a concerted and very successful campaign by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the past 25 years that has been based largely on anecdotal information and fiction.
There has been tort reform. There is a problem. Trial lawyers are the problem. That is the attitude that jurors are bringing to the courthouse. We need to understand that and address that issue or else we have lost before we start. And we sure as heck better not fall into the stereotypical ‘trial lawyer’ cliche/stereotype of being fast and loose with the facts or else we’re sunk.
