The November Fund

"It is hypocritical of the Chamber of Commerce - which believes it is perfectly all right for corporations to be responsible for the vast majority of civil litigation - to act as a front group for the insurance, tobacco, drug, chemical and other industries in a $10 million campaign to take away the legal rights of American families.

Clearly these industries and the Chamber think it should be permissible to sell flammable children's pajamas, exploding Firestone tires, vehicles that roll over and kill, and dangerous drugs that harm women and children.  They think it should be permissible for nursing homes to abuse our parents and negligent doctors to repeatedly injure patients through malpractice.  They think it should be permissible for Enron and Worldcom to rip off their workers and shareholders.
 
Fundamentally this campaign is about protecting corporate wrongdoers from the people they hurt.  It's about substituting the judgment of politicians who know none of the facts of a specific case for that of 12 men and women serving on a jury who hear all of the evidence and make a reasonable decision based on the facts."


Todd Smith, Esq. is the President of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA).  This statement was released by ATLAon September 22, 2004.