Restaurant owners are no strangers to slip and fall lawsuits, which is why we see so many of those bright yellow “Wet Floor” caution signs warning us of spilled drinks and

When Smith County, Mississippi Circuit Judge Eddie H. Bowen presided over the largest known single-plaintiff asbestos verdict in U.S.

Recent class action reforms, such as the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, have helped the class action system in some ways.  But the process continues to be severely abused by elements of the plaintiffs’ trial bar, who use the class action legal mechanism to join together large and diverse groups of claimants as

The U.S.

Never in the nearly century-long history of the U.S. Chamber have we opposed a federal district court nominee. But never have we encountered someone quite like John J. “Jack” McConnell.

Never in the nearly century-long history of the U.S. Chamber have we opposed a federal district court nominee.  But never have we encountered someone quite like John J. “Jack” McConnell.

It seems everything is getting “smarter” these days.  Smart phones have become ubiquitous, new cars can park themselves, and even shoes now come equipped with

So many things go into getting into a good college – the long nights studying for exams, the hours of SAT prep courses, the finger-painting. . .

Last year we brought you two cases of criminals who sued their victims.  As part of this month’s

It’s been no secret that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has taken the unprecedented stance of opposing U.S. District Court nominee John “Jack” McConnell.

On April 21, the Pepperdine University School of Law will feature a distinguished group of academics, judges, and practitioners discussing current and

Are more lawsuits the answer to our sluggish economy? Certain trial lawyers seem to think so. They are working hard to make lawsuits a growing and thriving industry. They are exhibiting the same zeal, entrepreneurialism, and creativity as the small business innovators who are leading our economic recovery. The difference is that lawsuits undermine businesses of all sizes, our competitiveness, and our economic recovery.

Today’s divided Senate Judiciary Committee vote advancing the Jack McConnell nomination for a judgeship on the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island underscores the strong concern that many have with this troubled judicial nominee.

The New York Times has a story in Thursday’s paper about attempts in multiple states to expand the availability of lawsuit lending.

Don’t tell Scott Pelley, but the letters section of this week’s Economist finally clarifies the real victim when an Ecuador court slapped Chevron with a $9.47 billion fine last month.

Great event this morning here at the Chamber, featuring Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. The occasion was the roll-out of a groundbreaking study by the Workforce Freedom Initiative (WFI) entitled, “The Impact of State Employment Policies on Job Growth: A 50-State Review.” Gov.

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee approved comprehensive medical liability reform legislation. The legislation – H.R. 5, the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act – was approved by a vote of 18 to 15 and now goes to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

There’s a great international shakedown taking place south of the border with this week’s $8.6 billion judgment against Chevron by a provincial court in Ecuador. The suit, filed in an Ecuadorian court in 2003, charges that Texaco (since merged with Chevron) failed to clean up oil spills from wells it drilled in the 1970s, and thus should be liable for as much as $113 billion.

by Bobby Maldonado

Earlier this week, as part of his annual State of the Union address, President Obama expressed his willingness to work with Congress to pass medical malpractice reform legislation in 2011.  He now joins with many members of the new Congress who are already committed to reforming America’s broken medical liability system.

by Mike Lepage

Everyone has favorite childhood memories. For many people, those memories include rolling down slides, dangling off of monkey bars and swinging on swing sets at their local neighborhood playground.

I commend the American Tort Reform Association for shining a spotlight on some of the nation’s most troublesome jurisdictions for lawsuit abuse with their release of the Judicial Hellholes 2010/2011 report.  This report outlines many problems in these jurisdictions and should serve as a reminder to courts and state legislatures of the continued need for action.

by Mike Lepage

“Everyone deserves their day in court,” says Steve Arnold, the owner of Peachtree Pest Control in Loganville, Georgia. “But when is enough, enough?”

Neanderthal Man gave way to Cro-Magnon Man, who gave way to Modern Man, who gave way to The Metrosexual Man – the species of man that routinely gets his hair styled, spends more time shopping than ever before, and is no stranger to the G-T-L. 

Some ridiculous lawsuits are funny.  Others are anything but.

After a fight with her boyfriend, a teenage girl sent him several text messages, including ones that said “Good bye … My last words …” and “If I won. I would have you. And I wouldn’t crash my car.”  She then proceeded to drive her car into oncoming traffic at 85 mph, killing a 35-year-old pregnant woman and the woman’s 13-year-old son.

Most users of Facebook, the online social networking service, are familiar with the ubiquitous "like" button, which allows users to publicize their approval of a friend's status message, a certain musician, a movie, a commercial product, or anything else that has a Facebook presence (which is just about everything).

To most people, the notion that a country’s legal system should only decide cases regarding actions occurring in that country is common sense. After all, when an American tourist visiting Great Britain gets in trouble with the law, their case is handled by British courts, not American courts. Conversely, when a British tourist gets in trouble in the U.S., their case is handled by U.S, not British, courts.

The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog gives advice to those fresh out of law school: “Forget bankruptcy law.  That’s so 2009.  Employment litigation is where it’s at.”  The career guidance is based off recent reports showing that employment discrimination lawsuits are “through the roof.”  The WSJ’s Nathan Koppel writes:

I admit it!  In college I occasionally stayed up too late playing video games instead of studying.  And, more recently, my dog’s patience and bladder have been taxed waiting for me to complete a level of Halo or finish a quick game of Madden.  But I never took my video game obsession as far as this guy, a Hawaii man who is suing the makers of the videogame Lineage II for causing an addiction that he says ruined his life.

ILR has released a national bipartisan poll of small business owners this morning with some sobering results:

Earlier this week, the respected medical journal Health Affairs published a study that estimates the negative cost of America’s broken medical malpractice system at $55.6 billion a year. By any measure this is a huge number, greater than the combined 2009 budgets for the Departments of Commerce, Interior and State and the entire legislative and judicial branches. It’s also greater than the cost of 270,000 houses at the current U.S. median price for new homes.

Not content with merely suing for all the tea in China, a Las Vegas man recently brought a lawsuit against a law firm for $38 quadrillion dollars.  For those keeping score, only $24 trillion is in current circulation … not just in the U.S. but in the entire world.  So, regardless of the merits of the case, one plaintiff in this month’s Most Ridiculous Lawsuit Poll is literally suing for more than all the money in the world. 

But let’s quickly take a look at the lawsuit itself.

It's that time again. Unfortunately, last month again saw some pretty crazy lawsuits. Which one do you think was the most ridiculous?  Vote here. And see previous polls.

Yesterday’s decision by the Supreme Court of California in County of Santa Clara v. Superior Court (Atlantic Richfield Co) to allow government entities to partner with private lawyers in contingency fee lawsuits will not only result in more litigation, but will further burden the state’s ability to create jobs and emerge from its worst economic situation since the Great Depression.
 

Lisa Rickard, president of the Institute for Legal Reform, has this op/ed in the Providence Journal today:

The United States Senate Judiciary Committee should reject the nomination of John J. ‘Jack’ McConnell for a judgeship on the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island. 

Last month saw some pretty crazy lawsuits. Which one do you think was the most ridiculous?

On Monday the U.S. Chamber filed comments in response to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) proposed rulemaking to define an important employer defense under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
 

 As policymakers consider ways to put Americans back to work, they should keep this simple formula in mind: more lawsuits equals less job growth.

Today with the signing of the Transparency in Private Attorney Contracting Act (TPAC) the Sunshine State becomes a model to the nation. This law will shine a much-needed light on the process that Florida attorneys general must follow when they hire private plaintiffs’ law firms under a contingency fee arrangement to sue on behalf of the state. Florida’s Attorney General Bill McCollum in particular deserves credit for his aggressive pursuit of this law.

Wanted to share a piece I have in the Wall Street Journal today on a new law which could open the floodgates to class actions in the U.K.

In the clip below CNBC's Jane Wells talks to Madelyn Alfano, owner of a nine-restaurant chain and board member of the California Restaurant Association, about the health care reform bill's calorie count requirement and other concerns:

Today’s unanimous Supreme Court decision in Hertz Corp. v. Friend overturned a controversial Ninth Circuit test for determining a multistate corporation’s citizenship. The Court ruled that for diversity jurisdiction purposes, a corporation is a citizen of the place where its headquarters is located.

Leave it to the plaintiffs' trial lawyers to add insult to injury. While American businesses and families spent 2009 coping with the effects of a severe recession, the plaintiffs' bar was hard at work bringing a whole new round of outrageous lawsuits on behalf of clients hoping to get rich quick by winning the litigation lottery. To chronicle some of the most egregious lawsuits, the U.S.

From the WSJ:

Vytas Juskys and his small business manage apartment buildings and are committed to constantly upgrading and making repairs to the homes of the tenants. He thought that improving their apartments and the common areas would help his residents love where they lived; he never expected that one of them would thank him with a lawsuit. Juskys was in the process of improving an apartment complex he had just acquired when he learned he was being sued.

2009 saw some pretty crazy lawsuits and it is hard to pick just one, below are the monthly winners of our Most Ridiculous Lawsuit of the Month polls. Jump over to FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org to read the stories and get your vote on.

The Wall Street Journal takes over from Cato and the National Review:

From the AP:

The Wall Street Journal opines on the Pelosi health reform bill:

On Wednesday former Florida Governor Jeb Bush addressed ILR 10th Annual Legal Reform Summit. Here is what he had to say:

When making any decision that impacts our civil justice system, our leaders should ask themselves one fundamental question: ‘Will this help put people back to work, or will this seed the ground for more job-killing litigation?’ As elected officials, they are entrusted with pursuing policies that help revitalize the economy and bring back the jobs that have been shed across the country. The American people expect them to live up to this obligation.

From the Washington Post yesterday:

Lawmakers could save as much as $54 billion over the next decade by imposing an array of new limits on medical malpractice lawsuits, congressional budget analysts said today -- a substantial sum that could help cover the cost of President Obama's overhaul of the nation's health system.

As Congressional members witnessed first-hand during their August town hall meetings, the American people overwhelmingly support medical liability reform as a way to reduce costs and improve the quality of care. Unfortunately, as this debate approaches the finish line, it seems that the trial lawyer lobby is cashing in all its political chips to retain the status quo.

While the Chamber has a number of serious concerns about the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Act, not least among them is the probability of increased litigation from some state attorneys general, who, with new federal authority to enforce the CFPA, will be hiring private plaintiffs' lawyers on contingency fee contracts. Congress should adopt legislation that would mirror the current private attorney retention rules applicable to federal agencies by barring state or local government use of contingency fee arrangements to enforce the CFPA.

Former Missouri Governor Matt Blunt shows Congress how to do malpractice reform in the Wall Street Journal:

President Obama plans to authorize demonstration projects in states to test potential medical malpractice reforms which is an encouraging acknowledgement of the problem of medical liability lawsuits. While his demonstration program might be a step in the right direction, the devil is in the details.

Earlier today White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reported that President Obama will address medical liability reform in tonight’s speech to Congress. We are encouraged that President Obama understands the tremendous burden that medical malpractice lawsuits place on the nation’s health care system, and are hopeful he will propose meaningful reforms tonight to limit the impact of these lawsuits on patients, taxpayers, and medical providers.

In August, former Vermont Governor and Democratic National Committee Chairman Dr. Howard Dean made a telling statement when he answered a question at a Congressional town hall meeting about the lack of medical liability reform in the current healthcare reform proposals. Dean responded, "The reason that tort reform is not in the bill is because the people that wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers in addition to everybody else they were taking on, and that is the plain and simple truth."

New developments in consumer arbitration shed light on true motives of ‘consumer advocates' and their pact with the plaintiffs' bar.

Bank of America, the nation's largest bank, this month made a watershed change in how its millions of customers resolve their disputes when it eliminated arbitration clauses from their credit card contracts.

Bob Beckel takes on health reform's taboo topic, partly for the wrong reasons, but hey, we'll take it:

• LET'S check in on the state of the relatively obscure economic indicator, "recent homes purchased by notorious housing bears".

• Ten Myths about Subprime Mortgages (h/t Cafe Hayek)

Facing a surprising primary challenge from Joe Sestak, Senator Arlen Specter is seeking to gain some Dem street cred by introducing pro-litigation legislation to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., which halted the expansion of securities liability cases through the theory of "scheme liability."  To the dispatches:

Seven quotes from two letters:

Senator Mitch McConnell thinks something's missing:

• Captive To Corn – This post reminded me of a pundit who quipped during the Waxman-Markey debacle that "Congress would vote for a bill appointing Satan as dictator if it included more farm subsidies."

This week, the trial lawyer "pay to play" scandal continues to unfold, ratcheting up the public attention and the impetus for Congress and the S.E.C. to act.

• Cost control: Liability limits needed in reform

• In Health-Care Policy, as in Hollywood, Nobody Knows Anything

My name is Bryan Quigley.  Growing up in Springfield, Missouri, I was the only "Bryan Quigley" I knew.  But now, thanks to instant information available on the Web and the explosion of social networking Web sites, I realize my name is not as unusual as I once assumed. 

To kill time in jail, some prisoners take up a hobby.  In "The Shawshank Redemption," Andy Dufresne carved rocks into chess pieces. Paul Newman’s character in "Cool Hand Luke" plotted and attempted numerous escapes from prison. And in "The Longest Yard," Burt Reynolds put together a team of inmates to take on the guards in a game of football.

by Kevin Ganster

President Obama was warmly received by members of the AMA yesterday in a speech focused squarely on health care reform. The president blamed some of the spiraling costs of health care on a reimbursement system that he said pays for the number of tests and services provided, regardless of what is needed.

For months, the Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform has been highlighting the impact of frivolous lawsuits on individuals and small businesses through their Faces of Lawsuit Abuse Web site. Recently, to further help get the message out, some of the lawsuit story videos have been running in movie theaters around the nation before the features. Lisa Rickard, the president of the Institute, appeared on MSNBC's Your Business to discuss the program.

Sunlight continues to pour on many state attorneys general and their collusion with the trial bar on pay-to-sue schemes.  What is pay-to-sue?  The Wall Street Journal explains:

The White House has issued a memo curtailing federal preemption of state laws in federal agency regulations, and requiring a review of preemption in all federal regulations over the past ten years (see Robin's post). There is little debate that the consequence of this is more lawsuits.

Yesterday, at the urging of lobbyists for the plaintiffs bar, President Obama ordered federal agencies to review a decade’s worth of regulations, to strip out "preemption" language that set a single, national regulatory standard for myriad consumer products.

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal editorial, 'A Blatant Extortion,' highlights the latest judicial hero, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney. Her ruling to dismiss a lawsuit against Dole Food Company had it all—corrupt Nicaraguan judges and lawyers working in cahoots with U.S.

Heading in to the evening reception Bryan Quigley briefed the crowd on the Institute for Legal Reform's "Faces of Lawsuit Abuse" program. ILR is ten years into their mission to achieve a fairer, faster, and simpler legal system -- Faces is the latest project in that campaign.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there. If you want to take in a movie today I hear the new Star Trek is quite good. In D.C. the inaugural, bipartisan, "Politics on Film" festival is going on; you can see "The Reckoning" and get caught up on the actions of the International Criminal Court, exciting stuff. 

It is truly sad that I must post this, but, as noted below, the legal landscape is not going away just because there is a possible pandemic. Here is a helpful primer from McKenna Long & Aldridge, a member of the Chamber's National Security Task Force.  I suppose that I also must note that this is for educational purposes only.  Here is the guide:
 
H1N1 FLU AND PANDEMIC PLANNING: ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IS CRITICAL

There is no doubt that Florida legislators have seen the recent series of editorials (one,two,three) in the Wall Street Journal outlining the latest national disgrace for the plaintiffs’ bar – pay-to-play scandals involving state officials across the country.

Earlier this week I sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder highlighting widespread evidence of asbestos litigation fraud and the necessity of immediate and serious intervention. To protect the integrity of the U.S.

by Lisa Rickard

To pick one antonym of courage, you can read the below and pick your own, from the Washington Examiner (h/t pointoflaw):

On Wednesday the National Chamber Litigation Center filed an amicus brief in a controversial class action lawsuit against perhaps the largest 401(k) plan in the country. Wal-Mart's 401(k) plan hold about $10 billion in savings for its nearly 1 million employee participants.

Today, the Illinois Supreme Court took a significant step toward bringing some common sense to the asbestos litigation quagmire that's bogging down our court system.

If you are (in/near/able to travel to) D.C. next Tuesday, April 21st, and are interested in Achieving the Right Balance: The Role of Corporate Criminal Law in Ensuring Corporate Compliance you certainly will want to register for the Corporate Criminal Law Conference at Georgetown University Law Center; to hear an impressive list of speakers including:

Yesterday, the Washington Post carried an op/ed by George Will condemning a radical legal decision by the Illinois Supreme Court that allows the government to transfer income from a business to other projects, in violation of the Constitution's "Takings Clause." Will rightly observed that the Illinois Supreme Court's decision invites all sorts of political mischief, including ‘predatory taxation' – schemes that take money from disfavored businesses and transfer that money to p

Over the past six months, visitors to ILR’s website FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org have been invited to vote on the "Most Ridiculous Lawsuit of the Month."  Past "winners" have included: a man who sought $2 billion in damages from companies over their alleged use of brain-wave control, satanic rituals and witchcraft; an eBay seller who sued his customer ove

A case study from the Wall Street Journal:

Last Friday William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr. were found guilty of stealing millions of dollars from their own clients in a Fen-Phen case in Kentucky.

The Wall Street Journal asks a good question "Where's the enforcement follow-up?"

In an April 2nd op-ed in the New York Times, Philip Howard, who is the chairman of Common Good (a legal reform group), talked about creating health courts. The Chamber has for some time been intrigued by the idea of reducing the randomness of medical liability cases by removing them to special courts, the same way we do with banking and admiralty cases.

In the restroom of a family-owned restaurant in Southern California, employees replaced a mirror that had been destroyed by vandals. Since the new mirror was two inches shorter than the old one, it was hanging two inches too high to satisfy disabilities regulations and standards. Once he was notified of the mistake, restaurant owner Ron Piazza immediately lowered the mirror. But it was already too late. Piazza's restaurant was sued. The plaintiffs are alleging that the height of Piazza's mirror inflicted damages each time they visited – for a total of 27 incidents in a three month period.

When a man turned suddenly while skiing in front of seven-year-old Scott Swimm, Scott slid over the man's skis to avoid a bodily collision, and the two skiers tipped over. Several months later, Scott was personally served with lawsuit papers, triggering a legal battle that forced the boy to be deposed by a team of plaintiffs' lawyers. The Swimms were eventually forced to settle due to the cost and emotional toll of continuing to fight the lawsuit.
 

The message from industry to Congress on setting standards for the safety of medical devices:

As we collectively seek to restore our economy to strong fiscal health, we are especially concerned about efforts to devolve regulatory authority to state tort systems.

By now, everyone has heard the one about the D.C. judge who sued his dry cleaners for $54 million for allegedly misplacing his pants.  Unfortunately, ridiculous lawsuits targeting small businesses and average families are all too common – and a sign of a lawsuit system run amok.

Over the past few sessions of Congress, those that favor more lawsuits, with the help of the American Association for Justice (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) have pushed bills that would effectively wipe out arbitration.

As Congress once again attempts to pass legislation that would potentially nullify hundreds of millions of arbitration agreements in consumer contracts, they should carefully review the mounting evidence that verifies the benefits of arbitration.  

This week, the Searle Civil Justice Institute, a unit of the Northwestern University School of Law, released an independent study confirming that the 84-year old arbitration system remains a fair, inexpensive and unbiased option for millions of American consumers.

The Searle Civil Justice Institute at Northwestern University School of Law has released a study today on "Consumer Arbitration Before the American Arbitration Association."  Their findings help prove that arbitration continues to provide consumers with fair, inexpensive, and unbiased access to justice across the broadest spectrum of consumer disputes.

Inclusion of the provision in the federal Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 authorizing state attorneys general to enforce the federal Truth-In-Lending Act with private civil lawsuits will create a patchwork quilt of conflicting authorities and interpretations of federal laws dealing with home loans and other types of consumer finance transactions. 

Business Must Keep Eye on the Ball

Donald J. Shepard
Chairman of the Board
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

• Attack of the trial lawyers - h/t and more the Maryland Chamber Action Network

In a letter to the Senate today I urged for the elimination from the stimulus package a provision in both the House and Senate proposals that give state attorneys’ general, working with private plaintiffs’ lawyers, broad authority to bring civil lawsuits.

No, not the one for America's businesses and workers, the one for trial lawyers. We have written about the problems with the Ledbetter case and the Ledbetter bill many times (first one, last one), so we will let Karen Lee Torre, a plaintiff-side employment litigator explain:

The Volokh Conspiracy has a series of posts about a conference at Santa Clara Law called "The Roberts Court and Big Business." Robin Conrad from the National Chamber Litigation Center participated in the conference and many of the panelists relied on the Chamber's record before the Court to examine the question of why the Court seems to be receptive to business interests.

Henry Petroski today in the Washington Post:

by Tita Freeman
 
As I’m sure you have heard often in both the soft concerned tones normally associated with NPR and in bombastic admonishments normally reserved for war crimes tribunals women make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. Outrageous right!

That two people born on the same day, with the exact same education and skill set, working side by side doing exactly the same tasks, working exactly the same hours, with equal levels of competence and performance would get paid differently just because one is a woman.

The theory and application of statues of limitations, from Hawaii:

Only a few days into the new Congressional session, the plaintiffs’ lawyers wasted no time in issuing their wish list for 2009. While the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports President-elect Obama’s efforts to revitalize the economy and put people back to work, America’s plaintiffs’ lawyers instead want the new Administration to help them bring more lawsuits and create a new White House ‘Lawsuit Czar.’ As we deal with the financial crisis, now is not the time to place a greater drag on the economy by expanding our nation's lawsuit system.

From the Heavy Hitters Donor list on OpenSecrets.org

USA TODAY examines the Massachusetts Medical Society's examination of the high cost of "defensive medicine" (h/t PointofLaw):

"Legal analyst" for CBS News Andrew Cohen posted a rather unremarkable article over the weekend. He feels that the entire financial markets mess could have been avoided if only we had more lawsuits. Wow!  A stunning conclusion from a former trial lawyer -- sue, sue, sue!

Here is one story, you can find more, unfortunately, at FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org:

The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) has released the 2008/2009 edition of Judicial Hellholes which reveals that lawsuit abuse remains alive and well in many jackpot jurisdictions.

If you found the real life examples from Lisa's post on FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org too depressing, you can check out the secondary story arc from last night's "Kath and Kim"

Best lines:

"The way you run your business—you start to second guess how you do business, because you're worried about the next lawsuit. And that's not the way to run a company." – Howard Weiss
 

Over on FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org you can vote for November's most ridiculous lawsuit, and the choice is, apparently, tougher than I thought:

• A city employee who sued over a co-worker’s perfume.

• The Canadian court ruling giving obese people two seats for the price of one.

• The man who sued corporations accusing them of brain control.

• The admitted hacker who sued the school that suspended him.

I feel compelled to note that this is not a parody, from FacesofLawsuitAbuse.org

One of the new stories up this week at FacesofLawsuitAbuse.com.

Towers Perrin has released their annual study on the cost of America's tort system, which shows an increase of 2.1% in 2007 to $252 billion. While Americans are feeling a financial pinch from the current economic downturn, this study reminds us that one part of our economy has been growing – the lawsuit industry. 

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue delivered a rousing address to the attendees of ILR’s 9th Annual Legal Reform Summit, saying that, during this time of global economic turmoil, the last thing America needs is more lawsuits. 

The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) kicked off its annual Summit with a visit from U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. During his morning keynote address to the nation’s leading legal reform experts, Secretary Gutierrez released a Commerce Department report on The U.S.

If you are looking for things to do this morning here are two good ones:

Since 1949, the U.S. Chamber has conducted an annual study on employee benefits. This powerful tool can help you evaluate and benchmark your company's benefits package and assess the costs of providing benefits. Take the survey before the October 31 deadline.

Norman Chad brings us:

Incredible-Yet-True Fact No. 1: A New York man who owns a house along famed Winged Foot Golf Club is suing the club because too many golf balls are being hit onto his property.

In the Fresno Bee, George Washington University Law School lecturer Jeffrey Axelrad warns that plaintiffs’ bar-supported legislation designed to expose the manufacturers of devices approved by the Food and Drug Administration to state lawsuits would endanger the lives of Americans who rely on pacemakers, balloon stents and other life-saving medical equipment.  The result of the legislation, he argues, would be a hefty payday for the trial lawyers bringing the suits.

The Supreme Court is back in session with a very important case right out of the gate. The media, of course, is spinning Altria Group v. Good as a "tobacco" case; but they would be wise to head the words of Justice Hugo Black, who once explained that Supreme Court cases "affect far more than the immediate parties." This federal preemption case will affect any American business that complies with federal laws and regulations, only to find that it has been unwittingly dragged into a state court for violating conflicting state laws. 

With the House rescue bill vote yesterday, I didn't see this Pearls Before Swine until last night, but it is a gem.  Learn more about how trial lawyers "revere" our justice system over at ILR. Click the strip for a larger version.

Why we fight, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:

In 1999, flush with more than a three billion dollar windfall from tobacco lawsuits, plaintiffs’ lawyer Ron Motley reset his crosshairs onto another "deep-pocketed" industry: companies that had ceased the manufacture and sale of lead-based paint 30 years ago or more. So certain he could bring the entire industry "to its knees," Motley vowed to give away his prized 120-foot yacht if he and his firm, Motley Rice, did not prevail. 

Like a bad cold you just can’t shake off, the infamous lost pants lawsuit is back.  ABC News 7, here in Washington D.C., has reported that former D.C. Administrative Law Judge Roy Pearson has been granted a chance to revive his $54 million lawsuit against a local drycleaner for misplacing his pair of slacks. 

I would like to commend Governor Charlie Crist for selecting Judge Charles Canady to serve the people of Florida on the state’s highest court. With more than two and a half decades of public service experience, Justice Canady brings to the Supreme Court a unique and thorough understanding of the government, having served in the judicial, executive and legislative branches. 

The Henderson Chamber of Commerce sure knows how to mobilize an active small business community! About 100 Henderson Chamber members attended a breakfast this morning to hear a presentation on protecting yourself against and curbing lawsuit abuse.

Congress may be in the middle of a month-long recess, many Washingtonians may have fled the sweltering weather for friendlier climes, and the town may have slowed to a crawl, but nothing can stop the inexorable march of the nation’s massive regulatory system

As noted in today’s Wall Street Journal, there is an on-going debate raging in the legal community about how judges are chosen.  Namely, elections verses so-called "merit" selection.  There is a mixed history with both systems at state levels across the United States.  Basically this semi-religious debate comes down to something like this:

As promised, on August 8th the Chamber voiced strong opposition to proposed accounting rule changes that would open the door to lawsuit abuse by trial lawyers and would not provide clear or useful new information to investors.

I have downloaded and uploaded so now I am going to front-load a post for the day.  We are heading over to Stone Mountain Park to talk to people and spread the good word on business.  Parks, playgrounds and other recreational areas have been among the hardest hit by abusive lawsuits.  And it isn’t just our fun being impacted; it’s our children’s education as well.

The Wall Street Journal has an editorial today calling a proposed change by Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) a potential boon to trial lawyers. The rule change would substantially enhance the disclosure requirements of SFAS 5 – Accounting for Contingencies. Essentially, companies would have to disclose information about almost all litigation and potential litigation and also disclose their assessment of the litigation.

You have to hand it to the trial bar—it’s nothing if not innovative. Its latest scheme to bilk consumers and businesses through more lawsuits involves one of the oldest games in town—passing legislation to advance a special interest.

Most Americans are familiar with earmarks, congressional provisions tucked into bills that direct funds to be spent on specific projects or provide special exemptions and breaks to favored groups. Taxpayers are rightly outraged when they learn of money being spent on “bridges to nowhere” or farm subsidies for wealthy “gentlemen ranchers.”

The Senate adjourned last night much the same way it started – with a lot of bickering. For the first time since the 1950s, members will skip town for the August recess without either chamber having passed a single appropriations bill.

by Lisa Rickard

During these tough economic times, the roughly 50% of all Americans who have their retirement and other investments tied up in the stock markets have a lot to worry about.  Inflation.  The mortgage meltdown.  Rising fuel costs.
 
However, obscured by these recent crises is a proven threat that has destroyed billions of dollars of average shareholders’ wealth, year after year.  The menace: securities class action lawsuits. 

The Washington Times has an article today about the presidential candidates’ position on card check legislation, noting Obama is for it and McCain against.  The article quotes Obama:

You have to hand it to the trial bar—it's nothing if not innovative. Its latest scheme to bilk consumers and businesses through more lawsuits involves one of the oldest games in town—passing legislation to advance a special interest.

A moderate 5.4-magnitude earthquake shook Los Angeles yesterday, giving people a fright but not resulting in any significant damage. The epicenter was about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

Every summer, I suspect that those who work at garden supply stores are inundated by people looking for advice on how to fight back against invasive vines and weeds that creep into their yards.  Suggestions might include hacking back the trespassers, ripping them out by the roots, or even dousing them with powerful herbicides.  But the truth is, no matter how much sweat, time and money they invest into this effort, there’s a good chance they’ll just grow back. 

More than 99% of the world’s information is currently created electronically, and nearly every piece of electronically stored information (ESI) is potentially discoverable in a civil lawsuit.  In an average case today, the process of exchanging ESI with an opposing party (known generally as electronic discovery or "e-discovery") can mean processing, reviewing and producing potentially millions of pages of electronic documents.  According to one estimate, a "midsize" lawsuit is now expected to generate between $2.5 and $3.5 million in e-discovery costs alone.  E-discovery, according to one

Today the False Claims Act Corrections Act was favorably reported out of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. The False Claims Act (FCA) has been an important and effective tool to protect the government against false claims on federally funded contracts and programs. Through a combination of government- and whistleblower-initiated lawsuits, the U.S. government has successfully recovered more than $20 billion in cases brought under the Act. 

Yesterday the Senate passed legislation updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The vote was 69-28. The bill would renew the legal backing for the federal government's warrantless surveillance program and protect from civil lawsuits telecom companies that helped the government wiretap Americans without court authorization after the 9-11 attacks. About 40 such lawsuits have been filed.

The Rhode Island Supreme Court overturned a landmark verdict against three former lead paint producers yesterday. In a 4-0 decision, the court said the state's lawsuit, based on a centuries-old public nuisance theory, should have been dismissed at the outset.

by Lisa Rickard

by Lisa Rickard

Dickie Scruggs famously coined the phrase "magic jurisdictions" – notorious local hot spots of trial lawyer influence where judges are "elected with verdict money" and defendants find it "almost impossible to get a fair trial." While Mr. Scruggs made a living by tilting the legal odds in his favor, his sentence of five years in prison for conspiring to bribe a judge proves there are some lines that cannot be crossed. 

Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court slashed the damages Exxon Mobil must pay as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in what experts are calling a far reaching decision. The court reduced punitive damages from $2.5 billion to $500 million, or the same amount as compensatory damages.

By James Sneeringer

Just one item today. The New York Times yesterday had a great piece on the "tort wars"--the ongoing battle over legal reform. The Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform has been a leader in this fight and is featured prominently.

Read the article:To the Trenches: The Tort War Is Raging On

Earlier this week, the Milberg law firm agreed to pay $75 million in return for dismissal of federal charges that they disbursed millions in illegal kickbacks to teams of "professional plaintiffs."  The firm - whose former partners, Bill Lerach and Mel Weiss, were recently convicted for their roles in the scandal - was accused of pocketing $250 million over the past two decades by being the first to file class action lawsuits against major companies on behalf of their roster of ready-made plaintiffs. 

When a major scandal breaks, the media spotlight becomes intense and those seen as representing the interests of the industry or profession exposed by the wrongdoing usually feel the heat.

But this tried-and-true formula doesn’t seem to hold when it comes to the recent scandals of some of the country’s biggest plaintiffs’ lawyers.

Here is a fascinating news item about a "vulture fund" that Eliot Spitzer is proposing to start.

In today’s Washington Post, David Ignatius writes that the "folkloric image" of the small-town attorney, nobly fighting back against the giant corporations on behalf of the common man, has been tarnished by the convictions of infamous high-priced plaintiffs’ trial lawyers Dickie Scruggs and Mel Weiss.

Yesterday, President Bush signed into law H.R. 4008 that amends the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) to make clear that, up until now, a company is not in willful violation of the Act if it shortens a consumer’s credit card number printed on a receipt to four digits but does not remove the expiration date.

A small, but vocal, group of protestors have not prevented SEIU’s Andy Stern from getting his way at the union’s convention. His slate of candidates for the executive board is virtually unchallenged, and he rammed through provisions shifting further power from the local unions to the national, including one that requires local unions to send a small percentage of their budgets to the national union for organizi

U.S. District Judge John Walter sentenced Mel Weiss earlier today to 30 months in federal prison and fined him nearly 10 million dollars for defrauding the legal system for more than two decades.

Mr. Weiss and his former partner, Bill Lerach, also convicted in the same scheme, like to portray themselves as champions of the people. But no one should believe that either is a 'Robin Hood'.

On May 14th, Chamber President and CEO, Tom Donohue spoke before the Emergency Department Practice Management Association's Solutions Summit; the theme of the event was "Strategies to Manage Health Care Change". His posts on the subject are available here, here, here and here.

Below is a bit from the Q&A on defensive medicine and systematic legal reform.

Interviewed after his trial, famous – now infamous – class action attorney Bill Lerach admitted it is "industry practice" to give kickbacks to certain plaintiffs, which effectively bilked other clients out of their settlements.  On Monday, Lerach reported to the minimum-security federal facility at Lompoc, California, to begin serving a two-year sentence for committing crimes he considers merely in line with the standard operating procedure of the trial bar.  The "industry practice" that landed

Interviewed after his trial, plaintiffs’ attorney Bill Lerach admitted it is "industry practice" to give kickbacks to plaintiffs and effectively bilk clients out of their settlements.  It is appropriate that as Lerach today begins serving a two-year sentence for his crimes, Congress is being challenged to investigate and act upon the apparently widespread abuses that led this attorney-turned-inmate to federal prison. 

The government said Friday that it would halt deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve beginning in July and ending in December. Many lawmakers had been calling for such a move, but most experts say it will make very little difference in gas prices.

This seems to be the year of big-time plaintiffs’ trial lawyers facing bad behavior charges.  The latest case is the Kentucky Three – wealthy trial lawyers who are now themselves on trial, accused of stealing $65 million from their clients in a diet drug settlement.

During the ongoing – and increasingly bizarre – saga, a new excuse has been articulated by the defense attorney for Melbourne Mills, Jr.: the accused suffered from alcoholism, wasn’t involved in the case and therefore could not be held accountable.

The Supreme Court yesterday refused to hear an appeal by 33 major companies trying to stop $400 billion worth of lawsuits in an Alien Tort Statute case involving the apartheid era in South Africa. The Court said the case presented too many conflicts of interest to too many justices who hold stock in the involved companies.

Pop quiz question:  Who are the victims of the recent housing crisis?

A. Borrowers who signed mortgages they couldn't afford

B. Owners who have seen the values of their homes plummet

C. Local governments who are dealing with neighborhoods of vacant, foreclosed housing and a shrinking tax base

If you chose any of the above, you are wrong. According to the latest legislation getting ready to pass the House, the answer is: D. Plaintiffs' trial lawyers.

The cyclone that struck Myanmar last Saturday could reach "disaster of biblical proportions" stage - a U.S. diplomat there said the death toll could rise to more than 100,000. Relief efforts continue to be frustrated by the military junta, who many are accusing of crimes against humanity for their staggering indifference to the crisis.

Americans are so focused on global economic competitors that they often forget that each of the 50 U.S. states is competing with one another for jobs, workers, and resources. Many of the jobs believed to be going overseas are actually going to other states that have created more positive business environments than their neighbors.

Nathan Koppel, on the Wall Street Journal Law Blog asks "Kickbacks to Plaintiffs: Industry Problem?" 

Does the Milberg criminal case point to a broader ill in the securities class-action industry? That’s a question being raised by U.S. Rep. John Boehner, the Republican leader in the House.

Sen. Harry Reid is set to unveil a proposal today to reduce gas prices, but the details are sketchy. He says to expect something new, but many think it will be a rehash of old Democratic proposals: making price gouging a federal crime; allowing the United States to sue OPEC for manipulating crude oil prices; and repealing billions in tax incentives for oil and gas companies.  Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are unveiling their own plan today.

The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform released its seventh annual ranking of the 50 state legal systems this week. To the surprise of no one here, the trial lawyers are up in arms.  The American Association for Justice – a.k.a.

The Institute for Legal Reform’s seventh annual ranking of the 50 state lawsuit systems came out yesterday. Each year, the immediate curiosity is always, "Who’s on top? Who’s at the bottom?" For the record, Delaware is again number one, although by the slimmest of margins.

Senior attorneys at America's largest employers say state court liability systems have steadily improved over the last several years, but less than half of them rate the state courts as "excellent" or "pretty good."  These lawyers say Delaware still has the best legal climate in the country, and West Virginia remains the worst. 

There were no major surprises or fireworks during Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker’s testimony yesterday. As expected, Petraeus cited "fragile and reversible" gains in security in Iraq, while Crocker said there has also been political progress, but not as much as he would like. Petraeus said that once troop levels reach pre-surge levels this summer, there should be a 45-day review period before any further troop reductions.

Testimony by Gen. Petraeus and continued fighting in Basra are thrusting Iraq back onto the national political stage. Petraeus is expected to recommend a pause in the withdrawal of troops from Iraq after July, when the troop levels will be lowered to roughly the number deployed before the “surge.” He’ll also likely focus on the unhelpful role Iran is playing, especially in southern Iraq, where their influence is strong.

Speaker Pelosi is warning the White House not to send the U.S.-Colombia FTA to Congress next week as planned, saying it’s too early and it doesn’t have enough support to pass.

I see that Steve Pearlstein of the Washington Post did a drive-by smack at the US Chamber in his on-line discussion post yesterday.  He claims that we long ago gave up on being "intellectually honest", in part because we refuse to equate plaintiffs' lawyers, who "forum shop" in search of compliant judges, with businesses who look for communities with low taxes and good business climates.  Isn’t shopping for justice the same as shopping for a good neighborhood?  Talk about i

Sharon Kruse is a 63-year-old widow from Dundee, Michigan. She is a former part-time teacher, mother of seven children and grandmother of seven.

A short article appeared in The New York Times on June 13, 1925 headlined "Federal Court Cases Double in Ten Years." From 1915, the number of cases had risen annually from nearly 63,000 to about 126,000.  Despite their best efforts, the federal courts were drowning in cases, but change was coming. Four months earlier, Congress had passed the Federal Arbitration Act.

The Dow fell 49 points yesterday in subdued trading. A pessimistic assessment of the economy from Ben Bernanke blunted an early morning rally. In testimony before Congress, Bernanke acknowledged a recession is possible and that he didn’t think the economy would grow at all – and might even contract – in the first half of the year before strengthening in the second. Bernanke also defended the Fed’s involvement in the takeover of Bear Stearns, saying he fully expected to get his agency’s money back.

• Litigation Lotto’s aim: destroy the global economy - HotAir
• How I Stopped Demagoguing and Learned To Love The Oil Companies - Coyote Blog
• "gains are to be made in specialization and trade, not in cowering behind protective tariffs" - adamsmith.org

• "The naive assumption that people make is that regulation will work exactly as intended."
• Drink Too Much Last Night? Blame NCLB.

Secretary Paulson’s speech to the U.S. Chamber yesterday made all sorts of news. The media focused on two items from his speech: his call for the Federal Reserve to oversee investment banks as well as commercial banks and the administration’s soon-to-be released blueprint for reforming regulations governing the financial markets.

• What is Wrong With Tort Law - let me count the ways
• Ocean cargo: U.S. exports on the rise…but where’s the space?
• Niceonomics - or the karma study

The New York Times had a major story yesterday examining the split between the Bush administration and congressional Democrats over how to strengthen oversight of financial institutions. Both seem to agree that the current system is a tangled web of federal and state regulators, which failed to deal with new financial players and innovations.

The Mel Weiss plea agreement in the kickback scandal related to his decades-long securities law practice is just the latest example of unethical and illegal conduct in plaintiffs' trial bar.

Mel Weiss and the other lawyers who dominated securities class action litigation for decades are going to prison for conspiracy and racketeering. Over twenty five years, these officers of the court disregarded their responsibility to their clients and corrupted the legal system for their own personal gain.

Up 420 points on Tuesday, down 293 points on Wednesday, up to 261 points yesterday – the rollercoaster ride on Wall Street continues. For the week, though, the Dow was up 3.4%. [Markets are closed today for Good Friday.] Oil prices continued their gradual fall and gold prices continued their plunge.

Nothing small seems to happen on Wall Street these days. After rallying 420 points Tuesday, the market gave back most of its gains yesterday, shedding 293 points. Plunging oil and gold prices did little to relieve inflationary worries and instead sparked a big selloff in oil services and metal and mining stocks. Crude oil  fell almost $5 a barrel to $104.50, while gold shed another $59 an ounce. Gold has lost $85 an ounce in the last two days.   

• Arizona and Colorado Consider Guest-Worker Programs - GO AWAY! no wait. COME BACK!
• The Erosion of Individual Responsibility - No, no, it was the predatory creditors, it wasn't me
• It’s My Way or No Highway - or the erosion of congressional responsibility

The National Chamber Litigation Center (NCLC) is a key player in the Chamber's efforts to ensure litigation fairness.  Even its detractors have to concede that by "investing heavily in legal strategy and working patiently in case after case the chamber has won victories that have gradually shifted the ground rules in its favor."

My little "on this date" calendar tells me that on March 14, 1950 the FBI began releasing their "10 Most Want Fugitives" list; which is online now.

To commemorate this little bit of public relations, here is Chamber's "10 Most Wanted" as of today, in no particular order.

Let’s start with money … There was a huge rally on Wall Street yesterday, with the Dow soaring 416 points, it’s best one day gain in 5 1/2 years. Investors welcomed news that the Fed will lend up to $200 billion to banks and lenders.

• Disconnect on Drug Patents
• H-1B Visas, Creating More Jobs for Americans

• State Economic Competitiveness Index - or maybe you need to drop the isolationist rants and look at your policies
• Trial lawyers at the public trough - actual headline, don't sue us
• Immigration: New bills, old borders - a policy review

In Slate's article "Big Business's Big Term" we will ignore the fact that Mr. Kendall's bias is buried in the bio box at the bottom.  We will also ignore the fact that his portrayal of me as "gushing" is sexist if not insulting. Instead, let's focus on the last paragraph of the article in which Kendall concedes that "The game is not rigged.

// Update March 4, 5:19pm

The Chamber has sent a letter to the Senate strongly opposing the current version of S. 2663, the “CPSC Reform Act”.

From the letter:

// Updated 4 March

It's nice to learn something everyday; today I learned that if you are trying to make a point in a blog post, you probably shouldn’t link to someone who makes a better counterpoint.  I suppose I knew this already, but reminders and examples are nice.

• 20 Surprising Ways Wal-Mart Clinics Will Affect US Healthcare
• Opting out of NAFTA - "Knowledgeable observers would have to take note of the fact that we are the largest supplier of energy to the U.S." - Oh yeah, well take your energy and, um, sell it to us.

In their latest “anything she can I do we can better” salvo, no sooner had Hillary Clinton proudly announced she had raised a record $35 million in February, than  the Obama camp crowed that they had raised $50 million. Meanwhile, most major polls now show Obama with a slight, but statistically significant, lead in Texas. He also continues to creep up on Hillary in Ohio.

Obama and McCain appear to be skipping the rest of the primary season and moving right to the general election as they tangled over Iraq yesterday. McCain seized on remarks made by Obama in his debate with Hillary Clinton Tuesday night in which he said he would consider sending troops back into Iraq after they had been withdrawn if Al Qaeda in Iraq established a base there. McCain said: "Is Sen.

• Texas shattering early voting records - I have to say, I'm still torn on early voting, but this is impressive
• Kansas joining the patchwork of local immigration laws and Long-Term Immigration Trends

Tim Russert debated Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Cleveland last night, or moderated the debate, depending on your perspective.  Health Care and trade were the big topics, with small differences between the two.  Not quite the "kitchen sink" but Clinton did question Obama's campaign et

• State Attorney Generals Abuse Their Power - I need to set this phrase up as an auto-complete
• Fake Chinese Anti-Malarial Drug Makers Apprehended - IP theft isn't just music downloads kids

The Wall Street Journal has an editorial today about the growing nexus between state attorneys general and private lawyers. It discusses a bill recently passed by the Mississippi Senate requiring Mississippi AG James Hood to pursue competitive bidding before signing contracts of more than $500,000 with private lawyers. The legislation also requires a review board to examine contracts, and limits contingency fees to $1 million.

McCain, Clinton, and the economy all got some bad news yesterday …

• Momentous USSC decision in Riegel v Medtronic and more.
• "You do what's right for the kids."

In 1886, Europe gave a gift to the United States.  La liberté éclairant le monde, or what is more commonly known as the Statue of Liberty, has come to serve as a symbol of freedom and democracy around the world.

America has now decided to return the favor with a gift of its own – class action lawsuits.  U.S.-style class action litigation is rearing its ugly head in Europe and some American trial lawyers are salivating at the thought. 

Some of you thought I gave trial lawyers a bad rap in my piece two weeks ago about how the business community was challenging attempts by the plaintiffs' bar to stack state supreme courts with plaintiff-friendly judges. Some of you thought I was painting all trial lawyers with the same broad brush. Some argued that even when pursuing huge awards for large class actions, lawyers are only doing so to benefit their clients.

A relatively small group of class and mass action trial lawyers are abusing our legal system. Their tactics often amount to nothing less than legalized extortion.

America's lawsuit system costs a quarter of a trillion dollars each year. Small businesses take a big hit, paying $98 billion in tort costs.

The race for the Democratic presidential nomination is starting to resemble that old song “Something’s Gotta Give” – the irresistible force (Obama) meeting the immovable object (Clinton). Clinton appears to have decided to contest the Wisconsin primary next week, making a decent sized ad buy and spending a few days campaigning there. Her campaign staff are said be to be nervous going into the March 4 primaries in Texas and Oklahoma after having lost what would be 10 straight contests.

Why Lerach and friends' rhetoric doesn’t match reality

by Lisa Rickard

Bill Lerach, the famed class action trial lawyer who made a personal fortune representing plaintiffs in securities lawsuits, was sentenced this week to federal prison for conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection with a two-decade scheme of paying individuals to participate as lead plaintiffs in massive class action lawsuits.

by David Chavern

Frivolous lawsuits have a devastating impact on small businesses:

Learn more about the real impact lawsuit abuse is having on our society.

by Tom Donohue

Reforming health care has been a major issue in the presidential campaign. What the debate has lacked is an honest appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses of our health care system.

by Ricardo Harvin

No Wonder Eli Picked the Hybrid

Fool Me Once, Shame on You - Fool Me Twice...

Newt Gingrich, Civil Libertarian? - I'd need to see his ACLU card.

• Welcome urged for immigrants
• Anti-immigration efforts hitting wall of suits
• "Since unions cannot win many secret-ballot elections they have come up with the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)...what should be called the labor union welfare act..."

There has been increasing whining from trial lawyers about the impact of “interest group politics” on state supreme court elections. In particular, there is a lot of moaning about “conflicts of interest” coming from judges having to raise money to run for office. The real problem is that trial lawyers are the biggest special interest group of all—and they are annoyed that they don’t have this branch of state government all to themselves anymore.

There was a marked change in tone last night at the Democratic debate between Clinton and Obama in California.

• House Discusses ADA Restoration Act - We also discuss
• Garrison Keillor: "Nice People Are Failing These Kids"
• Good Ole Boy Politics - Smooth, Sleek Southern Machine

There has been increasing whining from trial lawyers about the impact of “interest group politics” on state supreme court elections.  In particular, there is a lot of moaning about “conflicts of interests” arising from judges having to raise money to run for office.  The real problem is that trial lawyers are the biggest special interest group of all – and they are annoyed that they don’t have this branch of state government all to themselves anymore.

There weren’t too many surprises in President Bush’s State of the Union address last night. As expected, he focused on the economic stimulus package, clamping down on earmarks, the war on terrorism, and other unfinished business. One of the more significant new proposals was a $300 million initiative to help provide choices for kids trapped in struggling inner-city public schools. Bush expressed concern about the declining number of faith-based and parochial schools in inner cities and in low-income neighborhoods.

• Tom Donohue's Friday Interview on Bloomberg TV
• Employee Free Choice Act Would Disenfranchise 105 Million Workers
• "I think comprehensive immigration reform in 2008 is going to be very hard to come by" - Pelosi and Reid on Immigration

Asbestos lawsuits from non-Delaware residents, for claims occurring in other states, are being brought into Delaware at an increasing rate. In 2004 "there were 62 cases -- nearly all alleging exposure in Delaware -- on the court's docket. But between May 2005 and Sept. 30 of this year, 577 more cases were filed -- 445 by nonresidents who largely allege they were exposed to asbestos in another state." (from PointofLaw)

The Chamber is the nation’s largest federation of businesses and associations, with an underlying membership of more than 3,000,000 businesses and professional organizations of every size and in every relevant economic sector and geographic region.

- The White House and Congress have reportedly reached a deal on a stimulus package that includes tax rebates, tax breaks for businesses, and help for homeowners facing foreclosure. Those who earn up to $75,000 individually or up to $150,000 as a couple will be eligible for the payments -- $600 to individuals and $1,200 to couples who paid income tax and who filed jointly, plus an additional $300 per child.

There has been a lot of venom thrown at the business community as a result of the Stoneridge decision last week.  The general argument appears to be that the SEC’s authority to investigate and get funds directly back to defrauded investors is not enough, somehow a cut needs to be found for trial attorneys.

From the Financial Times, 'Court intervenes over US lawsuits ', courtesy of MSNBC:

The US Supreme Court decided to intervene in several important business disputes, on Friday...Robin Conrad of the National Chamber Litigation Center, the US Chamber of Commerce's legal arm, welcomed the decision to hear the Wyeth case and other business cases on Friday.

- The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Board is urging the government to raise federal gasoline taxes by as much as 40 cents per gallon over five years to ease traffic congestion and repair infrastructure. Under the recommendation, the current tax would be increased annually for five years -- by anywhere from 5 cents to 8 cents each year -- and then indexed to inflation afterward. The commission was formed by Congress in 2005.

• Some notes on "predatory borrowing"
• The next front in immigration, targeting babies (h/t adamsmith.org)

- The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that the White House is considering an economic stimulus package that would give tax rebates for individuals to encourage spending and tax breaks for businesses to encourage investment. Specifically, the administration is considering a $500 rebate for individuals and accelerated depreciation for businesses.

Next Tuesday, January 8th, I will be delivering my annual State of American Business address, laying out the Chamber's agenda for the year ahead.

"You used to be able to give better service; you used to be able to be better than everybody else. Now you have to watch your step because you're doing something that's going to expose you to some legal action."   That's a quote from a business owner who tells his story on our new website iamlawsuitabuse.org go there to hear the true impact of lawsuit abuse on our competitiveness.

By Tom Donohue

In recent months I’ve been traveling around the country delivering a series of speeches on challenges America must meet and master in order to succeed in a tough global economy. Together, these challenges comprise the Chamber’s competitiveness agenda. Over the next five years – and beyond – we plan to focus extraordinary resources to advance these issues because they hold the key to our nation’s future economic success.

U.S. Legal System Has Run Amok

By Thomas J. Donohue, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Sadly, America has adopted a culture where everyone is a victim, where suing is the first—not the last—resort, and where any misfortune in life must always be someone's fault.

We see some courts, juries, prosecutors, attorneys general, and regulators using the legal system not to enforce the law but to make the law. We see troubling attacks on the due process rights guaranteed to every American by ambitious prosecutors.

How did we get to this point? We have allowed a deeply flawed legal system to infect and alter our democratic form of government, our civic life, and our character as a people.