TRIAL LAWYERS BY ANY OTHER NAME

Washington, DC, July 14, 2006 -- “What’s in a name?” asked American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) General Counsel Victor Schwartz, noting that the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) is poised to make a strategic name change during its annual convention beginning tomorrow in Seattle.

Paraphrasing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Schwartz playfully went on to suggest that such a change for ATLA would be futile. “Will not a trial lawyer by any other name still find irresistible the sweet smell of self-interested litigation?”

Apparently convinced that the phrase “trial lawyers” has come to trigger a considerably negative reaction from the American public, ATLA’s board of governors recently voted 91-5 in favor of dropping it from the group’s name. Pending debate and a final vote by full membership in Seattle, ATLA is expected to become known as the American Association for Justice.

Taking a more serious tone, Schwartz said, “If ATLA’s name change indicates an attitude adjustment and new willingness to join us in pursuit of real justice, that’s wonderful. Together, we can work to end abusive litigation, stop rampant forum shopping and place reasonable limits on absurdly high damage awards.”

ATRA President Sherman Joyce agreed with Schwartz’s notion of justice, but admitted some surprise about ATLA’s name change. “I would not have expected them to drop the words ‘trial lawyers’ from their name since that’s what they are and that’s what they do for a living.” Defense attorneys are sometimes referred to as trial lawyers, too, and many are proud of it, he added.

“But I’ll admit that ATLA’s name change will actually help end some occasional confusion,” Joyce explained. “Though we’re generally on opposite sides of the legal reform fence, our groups’ acronyms – ATRA and ATLA – are an awful lot alike. Still, dropping ‘trial lawyers’ from ATLA’s name would be like dropping ‘tort reform’ from ATRA’s name, and that’s not going to happen because reasonable, commonsense tort reform is what ATRA is all about.”

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The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) is the only national organization dedicated exclusively to tort and liability reform through public education and the enactment of legislation. ATRA's membership includes non profits, small and large companies, as well as state and national trade, business, and professional associations.