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SURVEY SHOWS AMERICANS EXPECT TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY FROM ATTORNEYS GENERAL
Washington, DC, April 23, 2007 -- The American Tort Reform
Association today called for increased transparency and
accountability from state attorneys general as it released a new
survey showing that Americans want these powerful state officials to
adhere to fundamental standards of good-government when they enter
contracts with private sector personal injury law firms.
In each of five states surveyed - Alabama, California, Ohio,
Wisconsin and West Virginia - roughly three of every four respondents
said that all contracts that state attorneys general (AGs) make with
outside lawyers should be posted on the Internet for public
inspection. Approximately 85 percent of those surveyed in each state
also believed that AGs should require outside lawyers working for
their states on a contingency fee basis to keep detailed records of
their hours and specific work performed. (The full survey results
are posted on ATRA's dedicated AGAgendaWatch website,
www.agwatch.org.)
"In several states today, attorneys general are working
hand-in-glove with their political supporters in private sector law
firms, using the awesome power of the state to target entire
industries with litigation," explained ATRA president Sherman
Joyce, noting recent lawsuits against paint and pigment
manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and makers of other consumer
products.
"Frequently enough such litigation seeks to achieve public policy
ends that couldn't be achieved through democratic legislative and
regulatory processes. But sometimes these lawsuits appear to be
little more than thinly disguised efforts both to boost the media
profiles of attorneys general and enrich their political friends,"
Joyce continued.
"Too often these arrangements are governed by non-competitive
contracts that are negotiated behind closed doors," he said, "and
the contingency fees upon which these contracts are typically based
give private lawyers, backed by state authority, a pernicious
incentive to maximize the damage awards a defendant may be obligated
to pay, even if civil justice is minimized in the process."
Believing that relationships between attorneys general and personal
injury law firms pose a considerable threat to constitutional
democracy and certain state economies, Joyce added that "these
relationships require public scrutiny and legislative oversight."
He said the public apparently agrees.
"Our survey is a first step in ATRA's renewed effort to shine
more light on and demand greater accountability from our state
attorneys general. There is overwhelming public support for much
more transparency, and three-quarters of our survey respondents go so
far as to support a national code of ethics to regulate the
relationships between personal injury lawyers and state AGs," Joyce
concluded.
ATRA's survey was conducted in five key states across the country,
all of which have either newly-elected or historically activist
attorneys general. Survey details follow below.
ATRA
Attorney General Survey Results from
Alabama,
California, Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin
Grid: Yes | No | Unsure (Percentage)
|
Questions:
(Answers
expressed in percentages)
|
Alabama
(N=600)
2/27-28
+/-
4.1%
Yes
| No | ?
|
California
(N=1,000)
2/27-3/4
+/-3.1%
Yes
| No | ?
|
Ohio
(N=800)
2/27-3/1
+/-3.5%
Yes
| No | ?
|
West
Virginia
(N=600)
3/5-6
+/-4.1%
Yes
| No | ?
|
Wisconsin
(N=600)
2/27-3/1
+/-
4.1%
Yes
| No | ?
|
|
Should
the Attorney General publicly disclose all contracts with outside
lawyers and make those contracts easily available for public
inspection on the Internet?
|
78
|
15
|
7
|
73
|
17
|
11
|
77
|
15
|
8
|
74
|
15
|
11
|
74
|
18
|
8
|
|
Should
the Attorney General competitively bid contracts for outside
lawyers?
|
66
|
27
|
7
|
64
|
23
|
13
|
68
|
23
|
9
|
59
|
27
|
14
|
66
|
25
|
10
|
|
Should
the Attorney General allow the Legislature to review contingency
fee contracts with outside lawyers before signing them?
|
69
|
25
|
6
|
71
|
20
|
9
|
73
|
20
|
6
|
69
|
23
|
9
|
72
|
23
|
5
|
|
Should
the Attorney General require outside lawyers working on a
contingency fee basis to release detailed records of the hours
they work and what they do?
|
87
|
12
|
1
|
83
|
13
|
5
|
87
|
11
|
3
|
87
|
9
|
4
|
87
|
11
|
2
|
|
Should
the Attorney General allow revenue generated from lawsuit
settlements to be treated like all other state revenue and be
appropriated by the legislature before it can be spent?
|
76
|
19
|
5
|
71
|
17
|
12
|
74
|
17
|
9
|
75
|
16
|
10
|
76
|
18
|
6
|
|
Would
you support the creation of a National Code of Ethics to
govern contracts for outside lawyers for state Attorneys General
across the country?
|
74
|
23
|
3
|
72
|
21
|
6
|
78
|
18
|
4
|
80
|
14
|
6
|
77
|
19
|
4
|
Research
Methodology
The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA)
commissioned the Tarrance Group to conduct an objective scientific
survey with adults over 18. Interviews were conducted by phone. All
respondents interviewed were part of a fully representative sample
based on the latest census figures within the state. The confidence
interval associated with a sample of this type is such that 95
percent of the time results will be within the stated margins of
error of the "true values" where "true values" refer to the
results obtained if it were possible to interview every adult in each
state.
#### 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.
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