Monday, June 19, 2006

If you commit corporate fraud and you can’t deny it, then attack the Courts that hold you responsible: Courts are Newest Target in Tort Reform Effort….

That’s the new tactic of tort reformers! Attack the courts instead of legislatures. Corporate defense counsel are urged to push for jury trials and challenge torts common law case-by-case before business-friendly judges. One corporate defense attorney said, "(T)he quickest and easiest way to change laws is through the courts…All you need are a couple of good rulings from an appellate court, and suddenly you have something to talk about in other jurisdictions and in your own." Critics say under the guise of asking for jury trials, they are really asking juries to "hickjack the law" and that it's "very easy to flimflam a jury" on complex issues. The American Justice Partnership, an attack-dog group formed in 2005 by the National Association of Manufacturers, promotes the tort-reform-in-the-courts effort. Read "Moving Toward the Fully Informed Jury" and a practice guide. ABA Journal, 06/19/2006

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