In nearly 20 years of researching, writing and talking on television and radio about all the harm junk lawsuits cause, I have probably heard every twisted and off-base argument plaintiff lawyers use to defend their destructive practices and to demonize those they sue. Yet there is only one person in America who has taken the most common myths spread by the personal injury lawyers and so effectively refuted them in one report. Now, you can get that report online.
Steven Hantler is the chairman of the Foundation for Fair Civil Justice, and his spot-on analysis of the powerful trial bar called “Seven Myths of Business, According to Highly Effective Plaintiffs’ Lawyers” separates the fact from the fiction in the debate over legal reform. Hantler tells us, in plain language, how out of touch with reality the personal injury lawyers really are, and he uses facts to back up his arguments.
His “Seven Myths” analysis is included in the State Guide to Litigation that was just published in NACD Directorship magazine. If you want the straight scoop on an issue, you can count on it from the magazine read by nearly 10,000 directors of the leading public, private and nonprofit companies in the United States.
These leaders serve on boards of directors that wrestle with a myriad of complex issues, so they demand the most accurate information and unvarnished perspective from independent sources. If lawsuit abuse is making it more difficult to run companies that provide millions of jobs and which affect countless retired Americans, they want to know it. And they turned to Hantler for guidance.
In his report, you can read about how class-action lawsuits often fail to serve the public good and how plaintiff lawyers who try to circumvent established regulatory practices often hurt consumers. Personal injury lawyers often like to portray themselves as the underdog in a David verses Goliath battle with companies, but Hantler explains how that’s just not true.
The leaders who were given Hantler’s report this week certainly play a major role in our national economy, but many, if not most, are also intimately involved in our communities by providing hands-on leadership as board members of charities like food banks and hospitals. I know firsthand by working with charities that they are often as negatively affected by lawsuit abuse as any company. I’m thrilled that these leaders are now getting the information they need to fully understand America’s litigation crisis and to take action to restore confidence in our civil justice system.
