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<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">tort616</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see main</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> =</font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Greg_Abbott" title="Greg Abbott" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173);"><b>Greg Abbott</b></a> — Received somewhere in the range $9 million from a tort against a homeowner whose tree branch fell and permanently paralyzed him while was jogging.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Tokenism#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[7]</a></sup> As <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Texas" title="Texas" class="mw-redirect" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173);">Texas</a> attorney general he has supported tort reform that would substantially cap the amount of tort payments<span style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37);">.</span><sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference" style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Tokenism#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background: none;">[8]</a></sup></font></h2><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">entine cite ref</font></p><p>December 20, 2022
The Honorable Chuck Grassley
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate </p><p>The Honorable Andy Barr
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and
Monetary Policy
Committee on Financial Services
House of Representatives </p><p>The Honorable Darrell Issa
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
Committee on the Judiciary
House of Representatives </p><p>Third-party litigation financing (TPLF), also referred to as litigation funding
or alternative litigation financing, is an arrangement in which a funder that
is not a party to a lawsuit agrees to provide nonrecourse funding to a
litigant or law firm in exchange for an interest in the potential recovery in a
lawsuit.1 <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The nonrecourse nature of TPLF means that if the lawsuit is not
successful, the litigant or law firm does not have to repay the funding.</span>2
In the U.S., TPLF arrangements are available for both commercial and
consumer claims. Plaintiffs and defendants may litigate these claims in
U.S. federal or state courts. Nonrecourse funding may also be used in ...</p><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">EIN newswire</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NEWS PROVIDED BY</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>Bonus Eventus</div><div>July 13, 2023, 23:25 GMT</div><div>SHARE THIS ARTICLE</div><div> </div><div>IARC exposed</div><div>Genetic Literacy Project</div><div>
</div><div>Genetic Literacy Project publishes untold story on multi-billion-dollar influence network corrupting courts and public health regulations</div><div>
</div><div>GLP’s investigation reviews conflicts of interest among key players including the WHO’s IARC, the Ramazzini Institute, U.S. Right to Know, and the Heartland Health Research Alliance.”— Jon EntineCINCINNATI , OH, USA, July 13, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- </div><div>
</div><div><b>The Genetic Literacy Project publishes untold story on multi-billion-dollar influence network that has corrupted global regulatory systems linked to fear profiteering by the mass tort industry, activists, and fringe political interests.</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">GLP Editor, Jon Entine, <b>reviews the anticipated</b> formal release of competing assessments by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) on the world’s most popular artificial sweetener, aspartame.</span> These conflicting reports on whether the product may cause cancer provide a case study and behind-the-scenes look at the negative public health and societal costs associated with <b>flawed media interpretations of risk versus hazard assessments exploited by special interests.</b></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">GLP’s investigation reviews undisclosed conflicts of interest among key players including the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), non-profit research groups like the Ramazzini Institute, activist organizations like U.S. Right to Know, and litigator-funded front groups like the Heartland Health Research Alliance.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Entine further exposes abuses by the fast-growing U.S. mass tort litigation industry</b> and <b>third-party class action financing interests </b>in manipulating public opinion, overwhelming courts, and undermining public trust in sound science and government regulatory systems designed to protect public interests and health on issues ranging from food additives to GMOs and pesticides.</div><div>
</div><div>See the full report here:</div><div><a href="https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2023/07/13/aspartame-spins-the-25-billion-wheel-of-mis-fortune-how-the-environmental-activist-tort-lawyer-money-machine-manipulates-journalists-misleads-policymakers-and-scares-the-public/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2023/07/13/aspartame-spins-the-25-billion-wheel-of-mis-fortune-how-the-environmental-activist-tort-lawyer-money-machine-manipulates-journalists-misleads-policymakers-and-scares-the-public/</a></div><div>
</div><div>Genetic Literacy Project mailing address:</div><div>4780 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Suite 540-431</div><div>Atlanta, GA 30338</div><div>Jon Entine</div><div>Genetic Literacy Project</div><div>email us here</div><div>Visit us on social media:</div><div>Facebook</div><div>Twitter</div><div>LinkedIn</div><div>Instagram</div><div>YouTube</div><div>----</div><div>
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</div><div>does aspartame, used in thousands of products, from <b>Diet Coke</b> to Trident Gum to Log Cabin Sugar Free Syrup, cause cancer?</div><div>
</div><div>This Friday, two United Nations-affiliated organizations will publicly release assessments evaluating the carcinogenicity of the<b> world’s most popular artificial sweetener</b>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Two things are all but certain to happen: The two agencies will arrive at starkly differing conclusions, with only one raising a red flag about potential threats to human health; and the conflicting recommendations will ignite a media storm, social media will blow up, and many environmental groups will call for tighter restrictions or even bans on aspartame and other sweeteners long-judged safe by global science agencies. And within days,<b> TV and internet ads seeking ‘victims’ of the sweetener will begin appearing. LIKE ROUNDUP YOU FECK</b></span></div><div>
</div><div>The consequences of this fracas? The public will yet again question whether it should<b> put its trust in supposedly independent government oversight agencies or rather with activists claiming to have the public’s best interests at heart.</b></div><div>
</div><div>We’ve seen this script play out before: in disputes over<b> chromium-6 ‘exposed’ by Erin Brockovich or the weedkiller Roundup or the plastic additive BPA or the use of anti-depressants like Prozac.</b> How should we, the public, weigh the benefits and potential dangers of substances that are added to our land, food or medicines?</div><div>
</div><div>But this is anything but a routine dispute over the safety of one chemical or another. There is a backstory that is far more confounding and consequential. What follows is the largely unreported account of the tension between advocacy and science: how environmental and health crises are often manufactured and who are the losers and winners in the tension between safety and the effectiveness of products. </div><div>
</div><div><b>This is a ‘follow the money’ story</b> with tens of billions of dollars at stake. The cast of characters include two once-obscure European cancer agencies; high-profile environmental groups in the United States and Europe<b>; university-based advocacy scientists on a mission; the conspiratorial obsessions of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.; the Church of Scientology; and thousands of <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">lawyers across the country poised to exploit fears about how chemicals work.</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> I</span>n the end, the biggest victim may be science itself.</div><div>
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</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Sugar, sugar</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>The breaking story </b>on Friday, July 14 will focus on sugar substitutes, among the most scrutinized of chemicals. Currently, no country bans or restricts aspartame, approved for use in the US in 1981 and now used in two-thirds of the artificial sweetener market.</span></div><div>
</div><div>But many environmental groups don’t put much faith in government agencies that have concluded, time again, that they are safe. Yes, the Food and Drug Administration estimates, you could get cancer from Diet Snapple — by drinking 36 bottles every day — for the rest of your life. But what about under real-world conditions? That’s where politics intervenes. </div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Environmental advocacy organizations, like US Right to Know, an organic-industry funded group known for its opposition to genetically-modified crops and herbicides often paired with them, claim “decades of science point to serious health risks</span>.” <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Their evidence leans mostly on controversial research by the<b> Italian-based Ramazzini Institute.</b> It alone among dozens of independent cancer assessment groups claims the sweetener is linked to cancer. Based almost exclusively on cell and rodent studies, it judges aspartame a “grave concern to public health,” particularly for “women and children”.</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">Ramazzini’s animal research-based findings have been reviewed by dozens of agencies, including the European Food Safety Authority, in 2006, 2009 and most recently 2017, when it “once again confirmed the safety of aspartame”. The controversy seemed dead — settled science — until 2021 when Ramazzini mounted a bizarre public counterattack. It reasserted in a <b>news release </b>that its quarter-century old studies were “groundbreaking,” blaming their rejection by EFSA, FDA and other agencies on a conspiracy between the “chemical manufacturing and processed food industries and by their allies in regulatory agencies.” It’s new evidence? A re-analysis of the original data by — the Ramazzini Institute itself. </span></div><div>
</div><div><b>The old data with new wrapping paper didn’t convince any global agency except one: an equally controversial research group that has worked closely with Ramazzini for decades. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IAARC), based in France,</b> announced that as a result of the Ramazzini reanalysis it would evaluate the potential carcinogenicity of aspartame. It promised to release its results by mid-2023. Scientists from Ramazzini were signed on to observe and advise.</div><div>
</div><div>In the wake of the Ramazzini and IARC announcements, a few US-based environmental groups began hyping the “new” findings. The <b>Center for Science in the Public Interest</b> submitted an endorsement of Ramazzini’s rodent research to the EFSA, which did not issue a comment on the thrice-evaluated sweetener. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was immediately persuaded of its cancer-causing danger, posting an inflammatory “information” page on his crusading website, Environmental Health Trust.</span></div><div>
</div><div>But the global consensus by mainstream agencies held. As recently as late May, the US Food and Drug Administration updated its online advisory:</div><div>
</div><div>Scientific evidence has continued to support the FDA’s conclusion that aspartame is safe for the general population when made under good manufacturing practices and used under the approved conditions of use.</div><div>
</div><div>But that consensus shattered in June when an assessment scheduled for release this Friday by<b> IARC was leaked to the media. IARC declare aspartame a “possible carcinogen,” touching off a media frenzy. </b></div><div>
</div><div>image</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Within hours, the internet was flooded with more than 10,000 articles</b>. Google search interest on aspartame jumped more than 4,9000 in less than a week. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Russian disinformation and state news sources leveraged the leak to undermine public trust in Western health institutions. </span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Why such an intense reaction? Mostly because allies of IARC hyped that the World Health Organization itself or “WHO’s cancer research arm” had produced the report, which added to its perceived credibility. </b>Many news organizations, like Fortune, went so far as to call it “WHO’s decision”, characterizing it as “a move that could shake the food and beverage industry to its core.”</div><div>
</div><div>And it could. Almost immediately, stocks linked to artificial sweeteners tanked.</div><div>
</div><div>image</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On the defensive, the food industry launched a multi-million-dollar defense, sponsoring a linked story defending the sweetener to appear at the top of every Google search that contained the word “aspartame.</span>”</div><div>
</div><div>image</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Most independent scientists concurred with assessments by industry and government agencies.<b> Oliver Jones is a Professor of Chemistry at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia: </b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">[T]he IARC are apparently going to list aspartame as a ‘possible carcinogen’ (the same as it previously classified eating red meat and using mobile phones), which means there is some evidence that it can cause cancer in humans but at present it is far from conclusive. … The dose makes the poison. … Aspartame had to undergo robust safety evaluation before it was approved for use in food. It is the world’s most widely used artificial sweetener and current evidence is that it is safe at current levels of consumption.</span></div><div>
</div><div>But consensus science is unlikely to move the meter of media or public opinion when the issue the cancer-causing potential of a chemical. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Many news organizations featured responses from<b> trade organizations that came across as, well, corporate apologists</b>. The media framed the leaked story as ‘vulnerable pregnant moms defended by the World Health Organization vs. Greedy ‘Big Food’.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Among the major news outlets, only Reuters did its journalistic homework</b>. No, WHO did not “declare aspartame a possible carcinogen.” WHO’s official chemical risk organization is not IARC but JECFA, the WHO and Food and Agricultural Organizations Expert Committee on Food Additives. IARC was organized in 1965 as an independent organization affiliated with the World Health Organization but with its own structure and cancer analysis standards. In contrast, WHO has its own chemical oversight agency, JECFA has been officially evaluating food and chemical safety for WHO since 1955.</div><div>
</div><div>IARC and JEFC have starkly different responsibilities, or they are supposed to. IARC assesses “hazard” — whether a substance like aspartame could under any circumstances or length of exposure cause cancer. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Over its history, IARC has reviewed more than 900 substances or processes, from drinking coffee to eating hamburgers to going to the barber, as well as hundreds of chemicals; in only one instance was no cancer link found.</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">JECFA and dozens of assessment organizations like EFSA, FDA, and Health Canada, assess ‘dose’ and ‘exposure duration’, evaluating each chemical as it is used in the real world — what’s called a “risk” analysis. None has concluded aspartame poses a cancer risk—unless you consume 75 packets of Equal daily for the rest of your life.</span></div><div>
</div><div>In the wake of the publicity stirred by <b>Ramazzini’s public campaign in 2021</b> and IARC’s subsequent decision to assess aspartame, JECFA stepped in on behalf of WHO, announcing it would do a formal risk analysis. To prevent public and media misunderstanding, WHO required representatives from IARC and JECA to sign a confidentially agreement to coordinate the release of their reports on the same day, July 14. IARC’s cancer hazard finding leaked on June 29.</div><div>
</div><div>Which agency had an incentive to leak the IARC report? Who benefits from the release?</div><div>
</div><div>Chemophobia and the preda-tort industry</div><div>The only group more pleased than IARC and Ramazzini about the leaked release were attorneys in the<b> multi-billion-dollar chemical tort industry. Within hours, advertisements began popping up on the internet trolling for potential clients. </b></div><div>
</div><div>image</div><div>
</div><div>We’ve seen this scenario play out numerous times in recent decades. Prozac and anti-depressants in the 1990s; cell phones and brain cancer in the early 2000s; talcum powder since 2009; the plastic ingredient known as BPA used in water bottles, toys and medical tubing; the herbicide glyphosate, since IARC issued a controversial cancer hazard conclusion in 2015; and now with aspartame and other sugar substitutes. </div><div>
</div><div>In each case, IARC or Ramazzini’s cancer assessments directly contradicted the global science consensus. In each case, law firms that leverage threats of class action suits when a chemical is in the <b>crosshairs squeezed out billion-dollar settlements or jury verdicts Think Eli Lilly and Prozac; Johnson & Johnson and talcum powder; Bayer and glyphosate</b>; and now, the many manufacturers of aspartame and the companies that use it in products are in the crosshairs. </div><div>
</div><div>The US government estimates that malpractice and product-related tort cases <b>costs the economy [BAD ACTOR CORPS] about $40-$50 billion annually.</b> The dollar figure has been inflated over the last two decades by “litigation financiers” — a controversial, fast-growing $18-$25 billion industry in which capital firms pool investors to provide seed capital to sue vulnerable corporations. They then fund law firms and individual lawyers whose business model consists of filing class action suits against corporations, aiming for pre-court settlements and sometimes collecting billion-dollar judgements. When they collect, investors and lawyers win big. </div><div>
</div><div>Here’s how the process works.</div><div>
</div><div>Risk vs. hazard: Why the media get cancer assessments so wrong</div><div>Reports and monographs issued by the Ramazzini Institute and IARC have enormous influence, often eclipsing the findings of long-standing independent regulatory agencies specifically skilled in making cancer risk judgements. In recent years, one or both of the agencies have issued cancer assessments on cell phones and radio frequencies from 5G and other wireless networks; aspartame; and the herbicide glyphosate. Not one independent global agency agreed with their assessment. </div><div>
</div><div>(Click to read how independent organizations have assessed them.) </div><div>
</div><div>Cell phones and radio frequencies.</div><div>Sucralose and Aspartame. </div><div>Glyphosate herbicide [HE JUST SASSUMES WE ALL THINK ITS SAFE?]</div><div>
</div><div>Let’s examine what the cancer reports and monographs issued by Ramazzini and IARC have in common and why their conclusions so often differ from the world’s independent chemical evaluation agencies.</div><div>
</div><div>1. Neither Ramazzini nor IARC assesses the danger of a substance or process as we encounter it in everyday life — that’s what’s known as “risk”. Rather, they assess “hazard”. Here’s the difference:</div><div>
</div><div>image</div><div>
</div><div>2. Ramazzini’s and IARC’s hazard conclusions are based on what the press sometimes reports as “links to” cancer. It’s a fuzzy concept that often leads to scary headlines. </div><div>
</div><div>image</div><div>
</div><div>To scientists, “linked” designates a statistical correlation. Just because two things occur at the same time does not mean they cause each other; associations are often misleading or wrong as this Harvard Center for Risk Analysis article explains. But the media and public do not often grasp this distinction. </div><div>
</div><div>3. Most of Ramazzini’s studies and ones that IARC reviews for its monographs are based on <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">statistical extrapolations from rodent studies. Ramazzini uses Sprague-Dawley rats in many of its experiments, including in its aspartame research</span>. This type of rat spontaneously produces cancers as much as 80 percent of the time. This breed was used in 2012 in Gilles-Éric <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Séralini‘s</span> study claiming that GMO corn and glyphosate cause cancer momentarily rocked the science establishment; it was retracted in 2013. As Scientific American reported: REPUBLISHED BUZZ]</div><div>
</div><div>[T]he small number and type of animals used in the study mean that “no definitive conclusions can be reached.” The known high incidence of tumors in the Sprague-Dawley strain of rat “cannot be excluded as the cause of the higher mortality and incidence observed in the treated groups. For that reason, other agencies generally don’t put much weight on cancer research using this type of rat because of false positives.</div><div>
</div><div>image</div><div>Photo released by Séralini in support of his retracted 2012 study.</div><div>
</div><div>4. Ramazzini and IARC findings are published or echoed most often in two journals linked to them. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Environmental Health and Environmental Sciences Europe are open-source (sometimes referred to as “pay to play”)<b> </b></span><b>publications that often run articles by researchers with undisclosed conflicts of interest</b>. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Séralini’s retracted rat study was subsequently reprinted in Environmental Sciences Europe without peer review. Environmental Health is a Ramazzini creation;</span> its senior editors, David Ozonoff and Philippe Grandjean, deputy editor Ruth Etzel, and associate editor Valentini Forastieri are Ramazzini fellows. </div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">5. Linda Birnbaum is often featured in articles about the danger of chemicals (here, here) and sometimes co-authors studies with Ramazzini scientists. The former director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Science</span>s is a member of the Collegium Ramazzini;<b> she directed more than $90 million in taxpayer funds to her Ramazzini colleagues while at the NIEHS</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. Birnbaum’s endorsements of Ramazzini studies are often used as evidence by tort lawyers in class action suits. </span>(Here she endorses contested claims about the alleged cancer-causing dangers of cell phones and radio-frequency radiation). Birnbaum has complained publicly that she was censored by the NIEH during her years there because she was mandated to use the word “association” when discussing association studies.</div><div>
</div><div>image</div><div>Linda Birnbaum. Credit: Larry Deal]</div><div>
</div><div>Ramazzini—IARC cancer connection</div><div>
</div><div>Most people, some scientists included, have never heard of the Ramazzini Institute. Formed in 1982, Ramazzini has had more than 300 “fellows” in its Collegium (currently 180), including Linda Birnbaum. The Collegium is guided by Fiorella Belpoggi, Head of Research and Director of Ramazzini’s Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Centre, which she joined 40 years ago. Dr. Belpoggi’s has taken public positions well outside science mainstream, and sometimes in embarrassing fashion. In 2014, she was the only scientist on a three-person <b>oversight board for an anti-biotechnology Russian-based initiative called Factor GMO</b></div><div>
</div><div>image</div><div>Dr. Belpoggi is second from right]</div><div>
</div><div>Factor GMO claimed it would conduct the world’s largest, most transparent study into the alleged cancer-causing properties of GMOs and glyphosate. After pointing a high-profile media blitz, Belpoggi went silent. No report was ever issued and the campaign was subsequently exposed as a Kremlin disinformation operation that never performed any research. The website still remains, pleading for donations. Belpoggi’s position on the board is now held by an Egyptian actor.</div><div>
</div><div><b>IARC also has a controversial history. </b>According to its website, and like the Ramazzini Collegium, IARC operates in part as a research institute, training fellows in its unique form of hazard analysis. Shortly after its official organization in 1965, 10 years after JECFA became WHO’s official chemical assessment agency, IARC now utilizes four categories to assess cancer hazards:</div><div>
</div><div>Group 1: Carcinogenic to humans. This includes getting a suntan, drinking alcohol, or eating bacon or Chinese salted fish. </div><div>
</div><div>Group 2A: Probably carcinogenic to humans. This group includes hot drinks, steak and other red meat, oral contraceptives, frying food, working the night shift, styling hair — and the herbicide glyphosate. </div><div>
</div><div>Group 2B: Possibly carcinogenic to humans. This group includes eating pickled vegetables or coming in contact with Aloe cream or Ginkgo balboa — and aspartame. (Imagine the limp public reaction if the media had accurately reported that IAARC, in its leaked report, had found “aspartame is as potentially cancer-causing as eating pickled vegetables”.)</div><div>
</div><div>Group 3: Carcinogenicity cannot be determined or does not cause cancer. </div><div>
</div><div><b>IARC alone in assessing glyphosate as cancer-causing </b></div><div>
</div><div>IARC flew well below the public radar until 2015, when it released its controversial monograph classifying glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller, as “probably carcinogenic”. The herbicide had been the subject of hundreds of studies since its development in the 1970s<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. It was thought of as close to a miracle chemical: its toxicity was lower than salt or caffeine</span>; it was incredibly efficient and low cost; and risk studies had shown it was not harmful even to farmers who used it regularly. That’s why the IARC report landed like a bombshell, generating headlines around the world. </div><div>
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</div><div><b>The IARC glyphosate study is credited with reviving the anti-GMO industry, </b>which was fading by 2015 in the wake of the Séralini fiasco. IARC placed glyphosate in the same category as working as a barber or eating steak but it was assessed as less worrisome than drinking wine or frying chicken. Obviously, that’s not how the media and environmental groups framed IARC’s monograph. T<b>he ensuing media blitz set off a chain reaction of events that has resulted in bans and restrictions in many countries, and more than $10 billion in out-of-court settlements.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Curiously and controversially, IARC excluded human research from its assessment although a gold standard review was available:<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> a 25-year tracking USDA Agricultural Health Study.</span> The AHS focused on 54,000 farm applicators who used the herbicide almost every workday. It found “no association was apparent between glyphosate and any solid tumors or lymphoid malignancies overall, including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and its subtypes…” </div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>IARC’s cancer hazard conclusion was subsequently reviewed and rejected in more than 20 independent assessments including by the WHO’s JECFA.</b> The global scientific consensus: glyphosate is a comparatively mild herbicide that poses no cancer risk, including from residues in our food. Health Canada twice reviewed the IARC’s hazard data, concluding: “No pesticide regulatory authority in the world currently considers glyphosate to be a cancer risk to humans at the levels at which humans are exposed.”</div><div>
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</div><div>[click here to review full pdf]</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In early July, the EFSA completed its second formal glyphosate assessment, calling it “the most comprehensive and robust assessment this agency has ever issued”. Its conclusion: “The assessment of the impact of glyphosate on the health of humans, animals and the environment did not identify critical areas of concern.</span>”</div><div>
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</div><div>INFOGRAPHIC TABLE </div><div><a href="https://geneticliteracyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/glyphosatedangersinfographic_Genetic_Literacy_Project_June2022.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://geneticliteracyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/glyphosatedangersinfographic_Genetic_Literacy_Project_June2022.pdf</a></div><div>
</div><div>Within days, IARC placed what appeared to be a counter “original paper” in an open access non-peer reviewed journal claiming that glyphosate and other pesticides “may increase the risk of certain lymphoid malignancies”. It was a bizarre conclusion; the paper noted, “We did not observe statistically significant associations for any of the active ingredients or chemical groups studied. </div><div>
</div><div>Many scientists believe that IARC’s hazard studies serve a useful purpose by flagging products or processes that might be subsequently reviewed by risk-assessing agencies. Other researchers, including at WHO itself, say reports from hazard agencies often confuse scientists and the public. In a series of peer-reviewed articles, several public health, toxicology, and former government regulatory experts have warned that the Ramazzini and IARC approach is “outmoded and serve neither science nor society.”</div><div>
</div><div>Did IARC originally conclude that glyphosate was not cancer-causing? </div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>The IARC’s 2015 review board for glyphosate included numerous Ramazzini fellows, </b>notably scientist Christopher Portier, a Ramazzini fellow, who had never before studied glyphosate. According to Reuters reporter Kate Kelland, a draft had been prepared by the IARC team that concluded that glyphosate was “non carcinogenic”. But before it was released, and for reasons still unknown, it was mysteriously pulled and replaced by a different document with the exact opposite conclusion. Kelland was leaked the unreleased version:</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Reuters found 10 significant changes that were made between the draft chapter on animal studies and the published version of IARC’s glyphosate assessment.</b> In each case, a negative conclusion about glyphosate leading to tumors was either deleted or replaced with a neutral or positive one. … In one instance, a fresh statistical analysis was inserted — effectively reversing the original finding of a study being reviewed by IARC.</span></div><div>
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</div><div>Reuters did not name who at IARC oversaw the 11th hour defenestration of the almost-released monograph. Subsequent unconfirmed news reports pointed to Portier as the force behind the reversal which he denies<b>. The last-minute changes have so far generated well more than 130,000 suits and more than $10 billion in glyphosate settlements.</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to The Times of London, during the same week in March 2015 in which IARC published its glyphosate opinion, Portier signed a lucrative contract to act as a litigation consultant for Baum Hedlund, a law firms that was then preparing what would be the first case against Monsanto and glyphosate.</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Portier has since served as an expert witness, traveling the world, testifying in court cases and at global panels and events. According to testimony, Baum Hedlund paid him $450 an hour to provide depositions, write briefs, and appear in court as an expert witness. </span></div><div>
</div><div>screenshot pm</div><div>Portier testifying in 2017 before the EU Parliament on the cancer threat posed by glyphosate.]</div><div>
</div><div>Preda-tort racket? The Church of Scientology—RFK, Jr.—IARC—Ramazzini connection</div><div>
</div><div>Wisner Baum (formerly Baum Hedland, but renamed earlier this year), has been the most lucrative beneficiary of the IARC cancer finding. The Los Angeles-based law firm is known in the industry as an <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“ambulance chaser”, and a very good one (Their motto: “Client focused. Trial Ready. Billions Won.”). </span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Baum Hedlund is also the “Church of Scientology law firm.”</b> Its founding partner, Michael Baum, was a former staffer with the Church’s Guardian Office in the 1970s, responsible for guarding Scientology secrets. He was listed by the US government as an unindicted co-conspirator and operative in the infamous 1973 Operation Snow White case, a criminal conspiracy to illegally attempt to purge unfavorable government records about the Church that sent eleven Scientologists to prison and led to founder L. Ron Hubbard’s disappearance.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Baum Hedland helped rescue the Church from near bankruptcy in the 1990s by overseeing suits against Eli Lilly, the makers of Prozac, claiming that anti-depressant drugs could cause serious harm and provoke violence. Scientists considered the suits frivolous, but fearing a forced bankruptcy from court judgments, Lilly and others paid out billions of dollars to settle the cases. A former employee at the firm who I spoke with said Baum Hedlund lawyers, viewed the glyphosate case as “another Prozac.” </span></div><div>
</div><div><b>RFK, Jr., who has been attacking pharmaceutical giants since the 2000s, has been a long-time Baum Hedlund consultant. </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Among his many conspiratorial views, he claims that Prozac and other anti-depressants are behind some of the mass school shootings. Shortly after the release of the IARC report, he became a key member of the plaintiffs group. Here is RFK, Jr. bragging in a commercial for Baum Hedlund after they won the first glyphosate case against Monsanto.</span></div><div>
</div><div>screenshot </div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Ten glyphosate cases have gone to juries. The plaintiffs won the first three, all handled in part by Baum Hedlund, but have<b> lost the last seven</b>. Monsanto, acquired by Bayer in 2019, has reached out-of-court settlements with more than 100,000 plaintiffs. More than 30,000 cases remain unresolved.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Winners and losers</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The surge in glyphosate cases helped jumpstart the number of class-action lawsuits since 2015 from 75 to more than 300 annually; 90% are mass tort cases. The number of plaintiffs per case has increased from a few hundred to tens of thousands. Firms leverage the media, using TV, radio, and internet ads to generate plaintiffs.</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Settlements can be in the billions of dollars. Where does the money go? Attorneys in the glyphosate settlement took home in total more than $800 million in fees. The average class action victim payment: $60,000.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Numerous Ramazzini fellows and <b>chemical skeptics,</b> like Christopher Portier, have signed on with firms as consultants. Many believe that global risk agencies are hopelessly compromised. In January of this year, more than 50 skeptics released a set of recommended reforms, which more-or-less reflect the guiding principles of IARC and Ramazzini. Some are wise, such as not relying too much on in vitro or computer analyses.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Other recommendations are outside the global mainstream. They reject the bedrock principle of epidemiology that “the dose makes the poison.” Rather, they believe that there is not necessarily any “safe” or “no risk” level of chemical exposure. </span>36 cans of Diet Coke a day for the rest of your life? The government should consider banning it. While the US EPA and the EU’s EFSA will not adopt these recommendations they are <b>nuclear weapons</b> in the hands of plaintiff lawyers.</div><div>
</div><div>Where else does the billion-dollar settlement money go? In some cases, litigators directly fund and <b>coordinate studies with university faculty via front groups </b>with only thinly veiled facades of independence, with the research sometimes funded by litigation finance investors (with the relationships almost never disclosed). </div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The best example is the Heartland Research Alliance. HRA was launched in 2018 by economist Charles Benbrook to, in his words, study “how food and farming impacts the health of people and the planet</span>”. <b>According to Wikipedia, </b>by 2011, Benbrook had already served as an expert witness in more than a dozen lawsuits involving GMOs and pesticides; since 2014 he has been a paid litigation consultant for numerous mass tort pesticide cases including glyphosate, Benbrook has<b> worked with </b>Baum Hedlund and<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> his critical statements about glyphosate are regularly posted on RFK, Jr’s Environmental Health News website</span>. In the tort industry, Benbook is known as a pesticide litigation consultant.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Under Benbrook, HHRA partnered with various universities and hospital systems to conduct correlation studies “linking” herbicides, particularly glyphosate, to cancers and other health risks. These studies became the foundation for class action lawsuits. In addition to funding HHRA, Benbrook and his family reported receiving more than $500,000 in fees from mass tort lawyers while coordinating these studies.</span></div><div>
</div><div>HHRA’s donors and board members include plaintiffs’ litigators and their paid expert witnesses. According to a 2019 post on its website that was removed but recovered with Wayback Machine,<b> HHRA received donations from both RFK, Jr. and Michael Baum</b>. Most of its larger donations are disguised as “anonymous.”</div><div>
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</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Benbrook resigned from Heartland in July because, in his words, “my service as the HHRA ED has proven to be incompatible with my work as a testifying expert in hotly contested pesticide litigation.”</span></div><div>
</div><div>Much of the money raised by Heartland and similar groups goes directly or indirectly to <b>environmental advocacy groups known for taking activist positions on chemicals and risk</b>. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Environmental Working Group’s political lobbying “Action Fund” is supported by the American Association for Justice, formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, to promote mesothelioma health risk claims linked to class actions being filed by the donors’ trial lawyer members. </span></div><div>
</div><div>Litigation finance and opaque investors</div><div>
</div><div>Where did these funds originate? The golden ring of litigation payouts goes to a somewhat new type of private-finance investor team, Mass Tort Litigation Finance (MTLF) firms that front millions of dollars that hire paid experts to testify in cases. It’s called litigation finance. These companies or investment consortiums provide firms with upfront money to organize and market class-action lawsuits in the hope of taking a large slice of the billion-dollar settlement pie.<b> In a 2022 60 Minutes interview, Lesley Stahl called this funding “a relatively new multibillion-dollar industry, where investors fund lawsuits … betting on the lawsuit the way that traders bet on stocks.”</b> </div><div>
</div><div>In 2019, according to reinsurance firm Swiss Re, private-equity funding of mass torts reached $17 billion annually; it’s likely closer to $25 billion today. How does it work? At the bigger firms, individual investors put in $5 million or more into a multi-billion fund set up by any number of firms. This money is used to subsidize advertising to generate plaintiffs and fund advocacy groups to create investor and regulatory pressures on target companies, all to drive big-dollar settlements.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Buford Capital is considered the kingpin in the industry with more than $6 billion invested in the tort industry.</b> Its investors reportedly average returns of 20–35 percent. Firms like Buford can average 100% return for investing in a winning case, which is most often through a negotiated settlement with the targeted company. Buford claims a success rate of 90%+.</div><div>
</div><div>image</div><div>
</div><div>As of 12/31/2022</div><div>
</div><div>Who invests in these potential predatort windfalls? They are called “opaque investors”: Wealthy individuals, of course, but also hedge funds, private equity, university endowments, foundations and even NGOs. And firms are now targeting everyday investors with investments under $100,000. One of the upstarts, Valiant Finance, crows about, “Providing access to high-yield secured notes that help diversity your portfolio through the financing of mass tort litigation”.</div><div>
</div><div>image</div><div>
</div><div>With almost no oversight, transparency, or regulation, financing tort cases is almost a no-lose proposition. Big wins, like the glyphosate cases, are referred to in the industry as “nuclear verdicts”. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Philip Goldberg, managing partner of </span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Shook, Hardy and Bacon</span> in Washington calls MTLFs a “contrived mass tort generation machine”. </b>Fake studies “manufactured for the litigation” and marketing tie-ins with partner organizations such as environmental groups fuel the litigation, he wrote recently in Bloomberg Law:</div><div>
</div><div>Courts have found the overwhelming number of these claims are meritless. They are manufactured to feed a business model that takes advantage of imbalance, inefficiencies, and transaction costs of the civil justice system. Claims are produced by lead generator(s) and filed by lawyers, often without vetting. … But there is no way for the courts to try all cases. For many companies, the only way out is to settle en masse—even when claims have no factual or legal basis.</div><div>
</div><div>SwissRe says this influx of capital fueling class actions is overwhelming the court system and generating so many plaintiffs that corroborating claims has become nearly impossible. A recent report by the Madison County Record identified one case with more than 600 examples of falsified statements, false advertising, claimants filing for damages without having a disease, and litigator-submitted affidavits from people who had died before the dated signatures.</div><div>
</div><div>Goldberg calls the <b>predatort industry a form of mass terrorism. </b>Right or wrong the corporations have no exit. The plaintiff lawyers bank that the claims will go unexamined and swept into a global settlement, said <b>Judge Clay Land of the US District Court in Georgia,</b> one of the first jurists to recognize what’s been happening. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That “allows them to obtain a recovery without the individual merit of their case being scrutinized.”</span></div><div>
</div><div>Why did the IARC aspartame monograph leak?</div><div>
</div><div>Which brings us to Friday’s anticipated announcements. Which agency — IARC, Ramazzini or JECFA — had an incentive to leak to maximize their influence with the media? WHO officials are furious.</div><div>
</div><div>There is no reasonable reason JEFCA would have broken the signed agreement to release both reports in tandem. It had already signaled its findings would be in line with other risk agencies, that aspartame was not cancer-causing as used. </div><div>
</div><div>Before the leak, there had been buzz among advocacy groups that if the assessments were released at the same time, they would diminish IARC’s and Ramazzini’s influence among the global media, many of whom do not grasp the difference between a hazard and risk assessment. And depending upon how the press might have reported the two assessments it could have derailed a litigation gravy train. The leak has now hardened a narrative on the potential of aspartame to cause cancer, regardless of what WHO’s chemical risk agency, JECFA, concludes.</div><div>
</div><div>Besieged by media inquiries about whether they or one of their allies was responsible for the leak, IARC rushed out an “it wasn’t us” news release. Ramazzini, which had access to the draft version of the IARC report, has refused comment.</div><div>
</div><div>Jon Entine is an award-winning investigative journalist and executive director of the GLP. Follow him on Twitter @jonentine</div><div>combined disclaimer outlined@ x</div><div>donation plea outlined@ x</div><div>
</div><div>---</div><div>
</div></div></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><header style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="article--header" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;"><h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; line-height: 1.3em;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-asbestos-litigation-wont-go-away-because-asbestos-wont-go-away-110085" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Why asbestos litigation won’t go away: Because asbestos won’t go away</font></a></h2><p class="byline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 2px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 18px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jeb-barnes-669122" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">Jeb Barnes</a>, <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences</span></font></span></p></div></header><div class="content" data-raw="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asbestos litigation is the number one source of tort claims in the US, with many people decrying the filing of so many claims. But there's a reason the claims persist. Asbestos isn't going anywhere.</font></span></div><div class="content" data-raw="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></span></div><div class="content" data-raw="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It is tempting to dismiss asbestos as a problem of the past. The <a href="http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756117.001.0001/acprof-9780199756117" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">height of its consumption</a>was in the 1970s, and asbestos litigation began over a half century ago. Many of its leading manufacturers and mining companies are long gone.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Yet asbestos litigation is back in the news.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">A <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-johnson-johnson-cancer-lawsuit/jury-orders-jj-to-pay-4-7-billion-in-missouri-asbestos-cancer-case-idUSKBN1K234U" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">trial court ordered Johnson & Johnson</a> in July, 2018, to pay US$4.69 billion for failing to warn customers that its baby powder contained asbestos, which naturally occurs in talc. The company <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/business/baby-powder-asbestos-johnson-johnson.html" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">now faces thousands of these suits</a>, and its stock took a nosedive in December 2018 on a report that it <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/johnson-johnson-stock-slammed-by-report-it-knew-of-asbestos-in-baby-powder-2018-12-14" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">knew its talc was contaminated</a>. The company plans to appeal and continue to fight these cases, but, even if it eventually wins, their emergence raises the question: Why does asbestos litigation persist?</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">I have studied asbestos for decades and written books about its dangers and public policy around it. The issues surrounding asbestos or the material itself will not go away.</p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Stronger than steel, and potentially lethal</h2><figure class="align-center " style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px 0px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 18px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" cursor="cursor" default="default"><span class="caption" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">Workers remove asbestos-containing roofing material. Asbestos is used in many industries because of its strength and physical properties.</span> <span class="attribution" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/removal-fiber-cement-containing-asbestos-1055723846?src=XpaUfZuonFHxq3zjh_5mSQ-1-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; display: inline; max-width: 100%;">Andre Quinou/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">One reason for the persistence of the problem is that tons of asbestos remain in our communities, a legacy from when <a href="http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756117.001.0001/acprof-9780199756117" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">asbestos was prized for its remarkable commercial properties</a>. It is a fiber made of rock that is <a href="https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/asbestos/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">stronger than steel</a>, yet flexible enough to be woven into cloth. It is waterproof, corrosion proof and fireproof, as well as abundant and easy to mine.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Manufacturers found ways to add asbestos to everything from hair driers to battleships, roof shingles to children’s modeling clay, car parts to missile silos. Asbestos is still used legally in the U. S. <a href="https://www.epa.gov/asbestos/us-federal-bans-asbestos" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">for some purposes</a>, despite efforts to ban it completely, <a href="https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/importing-advice/countries-asbestos-bans" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">like many other countries,</a>including those in the <a href="https://www.asbestos.com/mesothelioma/worldwide/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">European Union</a>, Australia and dozens more.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Scientists now know that exposure to <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/11665/asbestos-selected-cancers" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">asbestos’ fibers can be lethal</a>, causing a number of fatal diseases including mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer of the lining of organs, and asbestosis, a progressive scarring of the lungs. Asbestos exposure can also cause <a href="https://www.asbestos.com/mesothelioma/pleural-plaques/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">pleural plaques</a>, fibrous thickenings of the membrane around the lung. This condition is asymptomatic and may not develop into serious diseases. But those who have been exposed face years of uncertainty because many of the worst asbestos-related diseases can take decades to appear.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">And, yesterday’s asbestos can be today’s health hazard. Because it is a mineral, asbestos does not evaporate, and its dangers do not diminish over time. If anything, some asbestos products can become more dangerous as they become brittle and likely to release fibers into the environment.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Asbestos fibers can also be released when disturbed, a fact tragically illustrated by the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks when the collapse of the World Trade Center towers released a <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fatal-Deception/Michael-Bowker/9780743251433" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">cloud of dust containing asbestos</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Finally, asbestos is part of the landscape of some communities, and epidemiologists have found <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2718408/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">higher rates of asbestos-related cancers</a> in areas that are known to have deposits of asbestos-containing rock.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Accordingly, even if the U.S. followed the lead of other countries and prohibited its use, health risks from asbestos would continue. Consistent with this assessment, the World Health Organization reported that <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/asbestos-elimination-of-asbestos-related-diseases" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">asbestos-related deaths have persisted</a> worldwide, including in countries that banned it in the early 1990s.</p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Lawsuits, a result of politics?</h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">A final reason for continued litigation is political. Asbestos is a global problem, but the American response has been distinct. Whereas other countries have addressed asbestos injuries through centralized benefit programs that pool costs and risks, the <a href="https://www.crcpress.com/Compensating-Asbestos-Victims-Law-and-the-Dark-Side-of-Industrialization/Boggio/p/book/9781409419075" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">U.S. has relied much more heavily on litigation</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Consider the Netherlands. During the 1970s and 1980s, Dutch workers suffered <a href="http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756117.001.0001/acprof-9780199756117" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">five to 10 times the incidence</a> of asbestos-related diseases compared to American workers. Dutch law allows workers to sue their employers for workplace injuries, yet there were only 10 asbestos-related lawsuits in the Netherlands in the 1990s. During the same period, one in three of all civil cases filed in the Eastern District of Texas were asbestos-related.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Dutch workers did not file lawsuits because they did not need to. They enjoyed much more comprehensive health and unemployment benefits, which were deducted from any recovery in the courts.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">American workers also <a href="http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756117.001.0001/acprof-9780199756117" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">did not sue</a> at first. Instead, they sought relief from state workers’ compensation programs. But these programs were designed to compensate workers for traumatic injuries, like broken arms and legs, and not slowly manifesting occupational diseases, like <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/mesothelioma" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">mesothelioma</a> and <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/asbestosis" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">asbestosis</a>. As a result, these programs offered very limited relief.</p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">With no relief, lawyers moved in</h2><figure class="align-center " style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px 0px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 18px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" cursor="cursor" default="default"><span class="caption" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">Roofing material that shows small asbestos fibers. When these indestructible fibers enter the lung, they can cause serious disease.</span><span class="attribution" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/detailed-photography-roof-covering-material-asbestos-1086447584?src=XpaUfZuonFHxq3zjh_5mSQ-1-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word; display: inline; max-width: 100%;">tunatura/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Entrepreneurial lawyers stepped into the breach. Aided by favorable rulings and the discovery of decades of corporate efforts to conceal the risks of their products, asbestos litigation took hold and ramped up. By the early 2000s, an estimated <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG162.html" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">730,000 claims</a> had been filed targeting over 8,400 companies in 75 of 83 categories of economic activity within the U.S. economy. Building on their early successes, <a href="http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756117.001.0001/acprof-9780199756117" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">lawyers created an extensive infrastructure</a> to support these claims, giving rise to a cottage industry complete with extensive marketing campaigns and sophisticated strategies for finding new claims. The final price tag has been <a href="http://press.georgetown.edu/book/georgetown/dust" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">estimated at over $325 billion</a> in today’s dollars.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Initially, this litigation illustrated the heroic side of the American legal system: its flexibility, innovativeness and ability to take on powerful interests. Over time, however, serious concerns emerged from lawyers, policy experts and judges about its costs and fairness. <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R3324.html" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Numerous studies</a> demonstrated that administrative costs of asbestos litigation gobble up over half of all compensation paid. These costs might be tolerable if asbestos litigation has delivered consistent and timely compensation to victims, but payments have been erratic and slow.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Meanwhile, claims now are often herded into massive settlements or bankruptcy compensation trusts, where compensation varies and claimants are offered <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG162.html" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">little, if any, individual due process</a>. Even worse, asbestos litigation has reportedly become plagued by <a href="https://reference.findlaw.com/lawandeconomics/7600-class-actions.pdf" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">questionable practices</a> and <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/tips/asbestos_tf/AsAsbestosClaimsRiseSodoWorriesAboutFraud.pdf" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">accusations of fraudulent practices</a> that displace consideration of those suffering the most and unfairly burden the courts and businesses.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">Given these problems, judges, interest groups and members of both political parties have repeatedly begged Congress to create a national asbestos injury compensation fund along the lines of other economically advanced democracies. These <a href="http://press.georgetown.edu/book/georgetown/dust" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: break-word;">efforts have all failed at the federal level</a> for a variety of complex political reasons, which have thwarted compromises over who pays, how much and to whom.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif">As a result, the erratic beat of asbestos litigation will continue, as the problem of asbestos will not go away on its own. People without adequate health insurance and social benefits will continue to suffer, and lawyers will continue to find ways to bring claims. Just ask Johnson & Johnson.</p></span></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20180705200611/https://publicintegrity.org/2014/12/04/16320/benzene-and-worker-cancers-american-tragedy">http://web.archive.org/web/20180705200611/https://publicintegrity.org/2014/12/04/16320/benzene-and-worker-cancers-american-tragedy</a></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">no lnx pix</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Bloated and bed-ridden, his skin browned by blood transfusions, John Thompson succumbed to leukemia on November 11, 2009.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A carpenter by trade, Thompson, then 70, had spent much of his life building infrastructure for the petrochemical industry in his native Texas — synthetic rubber plants in Port Neches, chemical facilities in Orange. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, he often encountered benzene, stored on job sites in 55-gallon drums, which he used as a cleaning solvent. He dipped hammers and cutters into buckets full of the sweet-smelling liquid; to expunge tar, he soaked gloves and boots in it.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Thompson never figured the chemical could do him harm. Not when it stung his hands or turned his skin chalky white. Not even when it made him faint. But after being diagnosed with <b>a rare form of leukemia </b>in 2006, relatives say, he came to believe his exposure to benzene had amounted to a death sentence. Oil and chemical companies knew about the hazard, Thompson felt, but said nothing to him and countless other workers.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"> “They put poison on his skin and in the air he breathed,” said Chase Bowers, Thompson’s nephew. “He died because of it.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Thompson died before a lawsuit filed by his family against benzene suppliers could play out in court, where science linking the chemical to cancer could be put on displa<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">y</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">. Over the past 10 years, however, scores of other lawsuits, most filed by sick and dying workers like Thompson, have uncovered tens of thousands of pages of previously secret documents detailing the petrochemical industry’s campaign to undercut that science.</span></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Internal memorandums, emails, letters and meeting minutes obtained by the Center for Public Integrity over the past year suggest that America’s oil and chemical titans, coordinated by their trade association, the American Petroleum Institute, spent at least $36 million on research “designed to protect member company interests,” as one 2000 API summary put it. Many of the documents chronicle an unparalleled effort by five major petrochemical companies to finance benzene research in Shanghai, China, where the pollutant persists in workplaces. Others attest to the industry’s longstanding interest in such “concerns” as childhood leukemia.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Exposed: Decades of denial on poisons</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Taken together, the documents — put in context by interviews with dozens of lawyers, scientists, academics, regulators and industry representatives — depict a “research strategy” built on dubious motives, close corporate oversight and painstaking public relations. They comprise an industry playbook to counteract growing evidence of benzene’s toxic effects, which continue to command the attention of federal and state regulators and be fiercely debated in court.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">benzene graf</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">What is benzene?</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Benzene is a highly flammable, colorless (light yellow at room temperature), liquid, volatile organic compound with a sweet smell. It evaporates into the air quickly and dissolves only slightly in water. It comes from both natural and industrial sources, and can be found in water, air and soil<b>. It is a known human carcinogen</b>.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">How common is benzene?</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Benzene is the 17th most-produced chemical in the U.S</b>. and is used in the manufacturing of common household items such as plastics, lubricants, dyes, adhesives and pesticides. The main sources of human exposure to benzene are gasoline and cigarette smoke exposure.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">How harmful is benzene?</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">There is an association with leukemia at a chronic exposure level of 10 parts per million, or lower. A worker exposed at 10 ppm of benzene for 40 years is 155 times more likely to die from leukemia than an unexposed worker.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Benzene is found in:</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Cigarette smoke</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Solvents</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Crude Oil</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Diesel exhaust</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Gasoline</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Styrofoam</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Ingredients used to make synthetic rubber, lubricants, dyes, detergents, drugs and pesticides</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Occupations linked to benzene exposure:</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Steel workers</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Refinery workers</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Printers</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Shoe makers</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Laboratory technicians</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Gas station employees</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Firefighters</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">"The conspiracy exists, and the conspiracy involves hiding the true hazards of benzene at low doses."</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">- Robert Black, a Houston plaintiff's lawyer who has filed benzene lawsuits</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“The conspiracy exists, and the conspiracy involves hiding the true hazards of benzene at low doses,” said Robert Black, a Houston lawyer who represents plaintiffs in toxic tort cases. Since 2004, while handling dozens of lawsuits filed on behalf of workers sickened by<b> leukemia, lymphoma and other diseases associated with benzene, Black has obtained 16,000 pages of internal records detailing the industry’s research tactics, which he shared with the Center. Other lawyers provided an additional 5,000 pages.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The documents may represent the tip of the iceberg. For decades, the petrochemical industry has employed what one litigation guide calls a “comprehensive strategy” for defending against workers’ legal claims<b>. Penned by a senior attorney at Shell Oil, the undated document lays out a coordinated “industry response”</b> aimed at shielding internal company records on benzene. It warns defense attorneys to “avoid unnecessary or inadvertent disclosure of sensitive documents or information,” for instance, and to “disclose sensitive benzene documents only on court order.” </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“We don’t know what the health effects are because they’re not going to let us know,” Black said. “It’s an American tragedy.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Five million Americans at risk</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Benzene emissions in the United States have declined sharply since 1987, when federal regulators set the occupational exposure limit at 1 part per million</span>. Over roughly the same period, there has been a<b> 66-percent drop in releases of the chemical into the environment. </b>Yet experts say it remains a formidable threat. “You’re still seeing elevated risks of leukemias and lymphomas among occupational groups exposed to benzene,” said Peter Infante, a former director of the office that reviews health standards at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, who has studied the pollutant for 40 years, “as well as populations being polluted from these benzene sources.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In May, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 5 million Americans — not counting those with workplace exposures — face heightened cancer risks from benzene and 68 other carcinogens spewed into the air by one such source: the nation’s 149 oil refineries. “We are concerned about benzene,” said Kelly Rimer of the EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, which has proposed a rule that would require refinery operators to monitor for the chemical along their fence lines.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Internal documents reveal industry 'pattern of behavior' on toxic chemicals</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">By David Heath and Jim Morris December 4, 2014</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>A dozen dirty documents</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">By Kristen Lombardi and Jared Bennett December 5, 2014</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">New battlefront for petrochemical industry: benzene and childhood leukemia</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">By Kristen Lombardi December 8, 2014</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“It’s a known human carcinogen,” Rimer said, “and it’s emitted from lots of sectors.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>One month later, California officials lowered the long-term exposure level for benzene from 20 parts per billion to 1 ppb — among the lowest in the country </b>— setting the stage for further emissions cuts at refineries and bulk-oil terminals in that state. Melanie Marty, of the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, said regulatory limits are now “getting lower and lower for [benzene’s] non-cancer risks” — dizziness, rapid heart rate, neurological problems, anemia — and not just its carcinogenic effects.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“We have to make sure we’re not exposing people to things we can do something about,” she said.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>A naturally occurring component of crude oil, benzene is used to make household products such as plastics, pesticides and dyes</b>. I<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">t remains a key ingredient in gasoline</span>, a source of exposure for workers as well as the public: In 2006, the EPA found benzene to be such a “significant contributor to cancer risk from all outdoor air toxics” that it limited levels in fuel. Even oil executives acknowledge its ubiquity;<b> in documents, they call it “universal” and “a basic petrochemical building block.” Benzene ranks 17th among the top 20 chemicals produced in the United States, according to the federal government.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The petrochemical industry’s decade-long research effort on benzene echoes those launched by other industries — asbestos, tobacco, plastics — that used science to<b> create doubt.</b> These industries have employed a host of tactics to try to convince courts and regulators that a chemical or product causes no harm. At times, they funded their own studies in an attempt to show the lack of adverse effects. Experts say the petrochemical industry has bankrolled more research — at greater cost — than anyone but Big Tobacco, which coined the phrase “manufacturing doubt.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“The more they feel threatened by the outcome of independent research, the more they will quote-unquote invest in their own,</b>” said Celeste Monforton, a public health researcher and lecturer at George Washington University, who has written about corporate corruption of science. Monforton considers the petrochemical companies’ study of workers exposed to benzene in Shanghai to be the most expensive and elaborate effort by any industry to try to refute damning scientific evidence.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>The reason, in her mind, is clear: “Litigation is continuing and potential for environmental exposures is still significant,” she said. “They need to protect their economic interests.”</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Underwritten by the biggest names in petrochemicals — British Petroleum, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell Chemical — and administered by the powerful <b>API </b>lobby, the <b>Shanghai Health Study</b> purported to examine how benzene exposure affects workers’ health<b>.</b></span><b> It consisted of three inquiries: The first investigated the link between benzene and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as well as acute myeloid leukemia, or AML; the second, progression of diseases caused by the chemical; and the third, the exposure level at which such biological markers as lower blood cell counts indicate benzene's toxicity.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>But the study’s outcome seemed to some like a foregone conclusio</b>n. Documents suggest oil companies set out to counter U.S. government research tying benzene to more types of cancer and at lower exposure levels than previously known. They show how company executives and scientists plotted objectives and “expected” results before the study began, banking on conclusions that would play down health hazards.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“This is just appalling,” said Carl Cranor, a philosophy professor at University of California, Riverside, who has read some of the Shanghai documents. “This does not sound like a scientific inquiry where you’re not sure what the outcome will be.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Infante, the former OSHA official, who now testifies for plaintiffs in benzene litigation, put it more bluntly: “It’s called potential bias.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Study’s authors: No bias</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Industry representatives and the scientists they paid to do the Shanghai work say such criticism is unwarranted. Some oil executives, they say, may have been seeking an alternative to government research; others may have wanted to better understand benzene’s connection to disease. Whatever the impetus, they argue, scientific integrity was not compromised.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“There could have been the best intentions or the worst intentions,” said Harvey Checkoway, an epidemiology professor at University of California, San Diego, who served on a scientific review panel created by the petrochemical companies to review the study. “We set that aside for the research.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Richard Irons, one of the study’s two principal investigators and now head of a consulting firm that does research for the petrochemical industry,</b> said that “if you’re ignorant, it’s a logical conclusion” to view the work as biased. “But it’s an accusation not founded in fact.” Irons acknowledged that he has never testified for a plaintiff in a benzene exposure case. <b>The API has financed his work on benzene since the early 1990s, documents show. Irons said he’s no longer receiving money from the institute but has gotten $100,000 for a small benzene project from the American Chemistry Council, the chemical industry’s main lobby group.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Defenders of the Shanghai study stress the independence of its design. Scientists, they say, have operated under the guidance of not just the scientific review panel, but of two Chinese government ministries and two university boards, all ensuring a proper inquiry. Many of the results — positive and negative, they say — have been published in peer-reviewed journals.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“The results don’t support the presumption of bias,” Irons said, explaining that, so far, the research has confirmed benzene’s association with AML as well as myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, a cancer of the bone marrow.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The study’s co-principal investigator, Otto Wong, who directed the work on AML and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, said, “I was interested in doing a cutting-edge study and I was confident I had control over our [portion]. The rest is really not a concern.” Wong acknowledged that he has never testified for a plaintiff in a benzene exposure case. His ties to the oil industry date to the 1970s. Now retired, Wong said he has “no contact with the API people at all.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Representatives of BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips all declined to comment for this article, referring questions to the API,</b> which did not respond to repeated interview requests. In a one-paragraph statement, Shell said the company’s financial “support for the study reflects our ongoing commitment to health, safety, and product stewardship,” stressing that “the study was wholly independent of Shell.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>ExxonMobil, whose scientists participated in the Shanghai study</b>, said in a written statement that it “supports scientific research through funding and technical support,” painting its involvement in this project — as well as a 2012 ExxonMobil-sponsored study of benzene-exposed workers showing adverse health effects at levels below legal occupational limits — as part of a longstanding corporate commitment to better understanding the chemical. </span>The 2012 results in particular prompted ExxonMobil to “voluntarily reduce allowable benzene exposure limits to one-half of OSHA legal limits” at its workplaces, it said — or 0.5 ppm for an eight-hour shift.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">By contrast, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommends that workers limit their benzene exposure to an average of 0.1 ppm during a shift.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Our conservative approach to setting workplace benzene exposure limits is influenced by the most up-to-date scientific evidence, which includes the 2012 study,” ExxonMobil said, noting that its short-term limit is five times lower than OSHA’s.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>As the Shanghai findings seep into the scientific literature and, ultimately, the courts, the petrochemical industry generally admits that benzene causes AML and MDS at higher doses. But other blood and bone marrow cancers continue to kill — at lower and lower exposures to the chemical.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Michael Boley in April, 1994. Courtesy of the Boley family</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">On February 27, 2012, Michael Boley, 68, died of a disease Shanghai researchers say can’t be tied to benzene: chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, a form of MDS, combined with another bone-marrow condition known as “myeloproliferative disease.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Strong and industrious, with a knack for avoiding even the flu, Boley spent 23 years at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber plant in St. Marys, Ohio, site of a seminal benzene study by NIOSH in the 1970s. The research quantified for the first time the leukemia risk for workers exposed to the chemical in the plant’s Pliofilm unit, prompting OSHA to work on the benzene standard that took effect in 1987.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Michael Boley worked at a Goodyear plant in St. Mary's, Ohio, for 23 years. His 15th anniversary with the company appeared in Goodyear's newsletter. Courtesy of the Boley family</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Boley didn’t make the benzene-soaked rubber film for which the unit was named; rather, he was a plant electrician, supervisor and engineer who worked there for an hour or two daily. Still, he knew benzene was in the air: While in the unit he noticed “Authorized Personnel Only” signs for Pliofilm workers who, he testified in a deposition, “were monitored on a regular basis.” At times, <b>he complained about the unit’s “sweeter-than-gasoline” smell. Once, Boley asked a supervisor if he could have the same blood test the company administered to Pliofilm workers.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“His comment was, no, we wouldn’t require monitoring,” Boley testified. “Our levels would be safe.”</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">Four decades later, after enduring the fatigue, feebleness and shortness of breath accompanying a diagnosis of chronic monomyelocytic leukemia, or CMML, Boley sued Goodyear and its benzene suppliers, including ExxonMobil. “He wanted them to know what had happened to him,” said his widow, Cheryl. But the suit went nowhere: In 2011, Boley settled the litigation in a confidential mediation. His still-pending workers’ compensation claim has seen little traction.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“He couldn’t prove it,” Cheryl said, alluding to the companies’ claims that benzene couldn’t have caused her husband’s illness. Those claims were supported by Irons and other scientists affiliated with the Shanghai study, who reported in a journal article last year that “benzene exposure does not appear to be a significant predictor of CMML.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Mounting evidence against benzene:</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>1928</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>First case</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The first case of benzene-induced leukemia is reported.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">1948</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Only safe concentration is zero</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The American Petroleum Institute concludes that “the only absolutely safe concentration for benzene is zero.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">1977</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Goodyear study</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health launches a study of two Goodyear plants in Ohio where workers are exposed to benzene at high levels — 10 parts per million to 100 ppm. Responding to the study, the<b> Occupational Safety and Health Administration issues an emergency temporary standard for benzene of 1 ppm, down from 10 ppm.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">1978</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Final standard</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">OSHA issues its final benzene standard of 1 ppm, sparking a<b> legal challenge from API that lasts nearly a decade and goes to the U.S. Supreme Court.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">1981</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Ohio results</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">NIOSH researchers examining the two Ohio plants establish that the<b> exposures increased five-fold the workers’ risk of developing leukemia.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">1990</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Benzene Task Force</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The API’s Benzene Task Force kicks off an industry campaign to counter the Ohio study.</span> The oil lobby acknowledges that “high doses of benzene can cause some forms of cancer,” but not necessarily “low concentrations.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">1994</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">National Cancer Institute study</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>A National Cancer Institute study of benzene-exposed workers in Shanghai, China, appears on the petrochemical industry’s radar.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">1997</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">National Cancer Institute study</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The first NCI paper reports significantly elevated risks of leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome and non-Hodgkins lymphoma at levels of benzene exposure around the OSHA limit of 1 ppm.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>2000</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>A new Shanghai study</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The Benzene Task Force outlines the strategy for the industry’s own Shanghai study as well as other benzene research efforts “designed to protect member company interests…” Documents paint the research as a counterweight to the NCI study.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>2001</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>"Benefits" to bottom lines</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Shell Chemical sign an agreement with the task force and API launching what will become the Benzene Health Research Consortium to fund what’s expected to be a five-year study costing approximately $20 million.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">2003</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Project unveiled</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The Shanghai study is publicly unveiled at China’s Fudan University, home to the project’s multi-million-dollar, state-of-the-art laboratory.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>2004</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>No safe exposure</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>The NCI releases its second major study of benzene-exposed Chinese workers. It shows that workers who inhaled less than 1 ppm of benzene had fewer white blood cells than unexposed workers, strongly suggesting there is no safe exposure threshold for the chemical.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">2005</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Shanghai costs soar</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Shanghai project expenses soar to more than $26 million.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">2006</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Benzene regulations launched</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The EPA launches what some experts consider its most substantive effort to regulate benzene in years — a rule requiring the reformulation of fuel to reduce benzene content. “Benzene is the most significant contributor to cancer risk from all outdoor air toxics,” EPA officials state.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">2007</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>"Risk management"</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>An API memo details the lobby group’s benzene “risk management” program</b>, which aims to “develop scientific data . . . for use in science advocacy, risk management, litigation support.” The memo states that benzene is “of particular concern to the industry” because “tighter regulation . . . could impose substantial costs.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>2009</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Shangai project ends</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>The Shanghai project officially ends, though articles about the research will continue to appear in scientific journals and be used by industry to defend lawsuits by U.S. workers exposed to benzene.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">2014</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">Continued impact</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">As of October, 30 papers have been published with consortium funds; in general, the Shanghai study has found that only certain subtypes of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) show statistically significant associations with the chemical. It also has shown “a possible association” between benzene and a subtype of non-Hodgkins lymphoma — a controversial finding that some industry scientists dispute.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Only safe level ‘is zero’</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The petrochemical industry has known about benzene’s dangers since the turn of the last century. As far back as 1948, the API’s toxicological profile of the chemical discussed “reasonably well documented instances of the development of leukemia as a result of chronic benzene exposure,” cautioning that “the only absolutely safe concentration … is zero.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Later, as scientific evidence of benzene’s hazards accumulated and regulatory limits on workplace and environmental levels tightened, the industry took a different stance. By 1990, the API and member companies such as BP, Chevron, Mobil and Shell had launched a research program meant to keep further restrictions at bay — or, minutes from an </span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">API meeting in 1992 state, research “that will be most useful in improving</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> risk assessment</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> and influencing regulation.”</span></b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Within years, the catalyst for the Shanghai Health Study appeared. In 1995, company representatives turned their attention to work by the National Cancer Institute, which was repeating the Pliofilm study in <b>China to examine the effects on workers exposed to benzene at levels below the OSHA limit. Exxon, which had yet to merge with Mobil, even sent company scientists on a fact-finding visit to interview government researchers.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“We are monitoring the NCI studies,” an Exxon memo explained</b>, “because of their potential impact concerning the health risks at low benzene exposures.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In 1997, the NCI published a landmark study on benzene-exposed workers in Shanghai. The results reinforced past research showing the chemical causes leukemia, said Richard Hayes, a former NCI epidemiologist and the study’s lead author, but “<b>what moved the science forward” were two findings: That workers with chronic benzene exposures had an increased risk of developing MDS and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma — i.e., diseases other than leukemia — and that such effects could be triggered by doses of the chemical as low as the OSHA limit.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In 2004, the NCI released the results of a second study. It found that Chinese shoe makers inhaling benzene in amounts below the OSHA limit had fewer white blood cells than unexposed workers, suggesting the chemical has no safe threshold.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“In general,” Hayes said, “we found benzene was a larger problem than we originally thought.”</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>The industry quickly attacked the NCI’s work.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Documents show that the API commissioned a $25,000 “critical review” of the government research from California epidemiologist Wong. In a 10-page paper, Wong challenged the NCI study from every conceivable angle. “The findings,” he wrote, “are unreliable.”</span></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Wong insists today that his corporate funding had no influence on this conclusion</b>. “My critique of the NCI study was comprehensive and specific,” he said. “I was responsible for every comment.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">For the industry, the review had the desired effect: It cast enough doubt on the NCI’s first study to convince the EPA, in 2000, not to rely on the research for estimating benzene’s carcinogenic effects</span>. “We thought there were methodological issues that might be questionable,” said Bob Sonawane, of the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, who has overseen agency assessments of benzene’s health risks. The agency did use the NCI work to assess non-cancer effects in 2002, Sonawane said.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">By then, industry representatives were already thinking beyond conventional critiques. Wong remembers reaching out to Chinese scientists about a possible benzene study before broaching it to industry contacts. “I knew quite a few people at API and member companies,” he said. “We just started a conversation.” The campaign to finance an alternative study in China was kicked off in earnest in the late 1990s, when the API approached<b> Irons, then a pathology professor at University of Colorado, Boulder. </b>Irons said API officials asked him to visit Shanghai in 1999 and consider doing a study similar to the NCI’s, which examined workers’ diseases and estimated their benzene exposures after the fact and “had some provocative findings.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Irons went to China. Upon his return, he urged the API to instead conduct what he calls “a real-time clinical study,” in which researchers examine workers’ diseases as they occur. Within a year, he, Wong and ExxonMobil scientists had drafted proposals for the Shanghai study, which the API circulated among its members to drum up financing.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">API representatives went from company to company, giving what amounted to a sales pitch for the Shanghai study. They laid out just what executives might anticipate in return.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>A 2001 document listed the following “expected” results:</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Provide strong scientific support for a lack of a risk of leukemia … at current ambient benzene concentrations to the general population.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Establish … current occupational exposure limits do not create a significant risk.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Refute the allegation that Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma can be induced by benzene exposure. </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Other documents show that the industry was counting on such findings to combat stringent regulation and stave off “tremendous” costs that would come from having to cut benzene emissions. “Significant issues of concern” identified in a 2001 PowerPoint include potential requirements to reformulate gasoline and “control emissions from stationary sources.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Liability also was a worry. Documents warned of “litigation costs due to perceptions about the risks of even very low exposures to benzene” and lawsuits “alleging induction of various forms of leukemia and other hematopoietic diseases,” including more commonly diagnosed lymphomas.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">For some in the industry, the bait proved enticing.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Given the magnitude of [health, safety and environment] issues surrounding benzene as well as the litigation claims we continue to see, I believe it would be worthwhile to participate,” a Shell executive wrote in an email in 2000, a year before the company and its four counterparts formed the Shanghai study’s official sponsor: the Benzene Health Research Consortium.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Later, as consortium members tried to plug an ever-increasing budget gap — boosting the research’s price tag from $19 million in 2001 to more than $35 million in 2008 — their argument turned repeatedly to economics. One 2003 script for a CEO-level phone call states, “This study will positively impact our global business concerns.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">Critics say such documents expose the Shanghai study for what it is: An industry attempt to buy scientific evidence. “It’s all about influencing science to get what industry wants,” said Myron <b>Mehlman, formerly chief toxicologist at Mobil, who became a whistleblower in 1989 after the company fired him for complaining about benzene levels in its gasoline. He sued Mobil, winning a $7 million judgment.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Mehlman remembers hearing about the Shanghai study in 2005 and immediately firing off letters to 45 executives at sponsoring companies. “I knew the scientists would do whatever it takes and whatever the industry needs done,” he said. In response, he said, he got a consortium form letter that “just re-confirmed how the study is being done for a single purpose — to get desirable outcomes.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Industry-funded researchers bristle at the science-for-sale accusations.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“I didn’t see refuting anything as my charge,” said Irons, the study’s co-principal investigator, “and I wouldn’t have responded favorably to that.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>In depositions, however, Irons conceded that oil companies had a vested interest in the project.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“The oil companies … expected … it would be used for regulation, litigation, and for understanding the health effects of benzene,” he testified in 2010, adding that he didn’t believe a “funding source or the amount of money necessarily impacts on the [study’s] objectivity.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Wong sounds a similar note. “We didn’t know what the results were before the study began,” he said, claiming he wasn’t privy to “any discussion” among the sponsoring companies. He considers it “just unthinkable” that critics would suggest “all those outside scientists, together with us, tried to create some results.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Noting that the study relied on actual cases from 29 Shanghai hospitals, Wong explained, “It’s very difficult to argue that we have influenced our data one way or another.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Members of the Shanghai study’s scientific review panel echo this sentiment. They saw no signs of overt bias in the design, they say, no way to yield preconceived results. “That wasn’t my experience,” said John Cherrie, a former panelist now heading occupational health research at a British nonprofit that has worked for the petrochemical industry. “The studies were designed to investigate the true situation without any obvious bias.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Some would-be funders weren’t so sure, documents show.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>In 2002, consortium members landed a meeting with seven scientists from Dow Chemical Company to pitch the Shanghai study. The meeting came after the scientists had voiced what one described as “specific technical concerns” about its design. Dow eventually opted not to contribute.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In a deposition two years later, Dow’s head of epidemiology, James Collins, testified that the company feared the study could generate inaccurate risk estimates and thus “be biased.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">‘Independent’ review panels</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Documents suggest the Shanghai study’s sponsors were keenly aware of such perceptions. To deflect criticism, they set up “independent” review panels consisting of 10 ethicists and scientists, reputable leaders in fields like epidemiology, clinical medicine and bio-statistics. By 2001, panelists were meeting investigators and reviewing protocols — “essentially quality control,” said Jerry Rice, who chaired the scientific panel. Advisory in nature, the boards have remained involved in nearly every aspect of research.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Industry representatives viewed the boards as essential for lending credibility to the study. “There are going to be people out there who will want to misinterpret and criticize the study,” one argued in a 2003 email. “It is important that ‘the integrity’ … be maintained” with the panels.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Panelists insist the boards weren’t simply for show. They say industry representatives routinely encouraged them to offer criticisms and recommendations, and they obliged. Documents show investigators incorporated so many panel suggestions that research costs soared $3 million in one year alone.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“I never felt there was any desire to muzzle or tone down criticism,” said Rice, formerly with the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, who oversaw the agency’s evaluations of chemicals for carcinogenic risks from 1996 to 2002. At IARC, Rice had come to know oil industry executives, who recruited him for the panel. “If there had been any of that, we’d have all quit.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Still, company executives maintained tight control over the study.</b> Documents indicate the consortium operated like a corporation, replete with committees governing research, finances and communications. Once a year, it hosted a meeting of 50 or so participants, flying American and Chinese scientists as well as review panelists to a two-day retreat to discuss the work as executives observed. Twice a year, consortium members combed through detailed progress reports filed by investigators.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>The consortium also required industry review of draft manuscripts until 2005, when Irons penned his first</b>. In it, Irons announced preliminary results linking a previously unrecognized form of myelodysplastic syndrome -- MDS -- to benzene exposure. The draft set off debate within ExxonMobil and Shell, both of which alerted the EPA — as the law required — to what was vaguely described in a consortium email as “health findings reported in a draft publication.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>At the time, Irons expressed reservations over the manuscript-review requirement.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Consortium members dropped it but kept the review boards</b>. For years, panelists kept circulating “ready-for-submission manuscripts” for “feedback,” documents show.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Consortium members have worked especially hard on controlling their message. Before the Shanghai study began, the communications committee was crafting its marketing strategy. Documents reveal reams of “if asked” statements and media-relations plans, listing objectives such as “counter activists’ negativity.” Among the committee’s tasks, according to a 2001 email:</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">perception needs to be that this is not being done to protect against litigation</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">use a consulting attorney to address these issues of perceived motivation</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Consortium sales pitches to prospective contributors, expressed in recruitment briefs, “call sheets” and “adaptable” slideshows, epitomize this corporate spin. Publicly, members have claimed altruistic motives for backing the Shanghai study. During a presentation in 2002 at PetroChina, a Chinese oil firm targeted for sponsorship, one Shell scientist proclaimed, according to a company email, “We believe it is important to understand the hazards of the products we make and sell, and we believe it is the right thing to do!”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Privately, consortium members betrayed less charitable motives. A draft of a 2002 recruitment brief reminded potential sponsors that “there is continued concern with the potential health effects of benzene as it relates to worker exposure … and personal injury claims.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>In response, a Shell executive urged colleagues to “delet[e] the reference to legal liabilities” and emphasized that “the only reason we are doing this is in support of protecting workers.”</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Widows like Carolyn Wright have trouble processing such statements. Her husband, Eric, was a consummate company man whose closets brimmed with Shell awards, buckles, hats and magnets. Wright spent 34 years, from 1976 to 2010, working on offshore vessels for five oil companies — 18 at Shell. A trained “gun shooter,” he repaired sonar equipment, breaking down air guns. He soaked parts in benzene-laced solvents in a diesel-engine room, breathing in the chemical at exposures estimated to be two to five times greater than the legal limit.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Eric Wright guiding a seismic streamer cable in 1976, his first of 34 years working on offshore rigs. Courtesy of the Wright family</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Wright died, at 63, of leukemia in 2010, exactly five months after receiving an MDS diagnosis. </b>Most of that time he remained hospitalized, beset by body sores, eye infections and a failing gall bladder. Within weeks, he couldn’t feed or bathe himself; eventually, he couldn’t hold up his head. Carolyn remembers leaving her husband’s bedside twice — first, to get clothes and then to visit a funeral home.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“They took away my best friend,” she said, referring to Shell and eight other petrochemical companies she and her husband sued 14 days before his death. “They were responsible because they made the benzene.” She settled the case for an undisclosed amount, most of which went toward her husband’s outstanding medical bills and legal fees. Shell admitted no liability.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“I’d rather have my husband,” Carolyn said. “There is not another one like him.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Seeding the literature</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The petrochemical industry’s research strategy had another key component: publication. Oil and chemical companies have long seeded the scientific literature, paying consultants to publish in peer-reviewed journals. They often use the published articles to advance their positions in regulatory and legal arenas. Infante, the former OSHA official, considers benzene “a good example of how the general scientific literature is being polluted by people working for industry.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>A 2002 Shell summary of the Shanghai project defined a “Key Measure/Indicator of Success” as a “Cost effective study reported in public literature … [that would] support … advocacy.”</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">By the time the research consortium disbanded in 2009, Irons and his colleagues had released results in 20 journal articles as well as at an “international benzene symposium,” in Germany. Industry-funded scientists have added to the literature since; according to Irons, the consortium’s dollars have yielded a total of 30 papers.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Such publications can play a critical role in benzene litigation.</b> The Shanghai study has helped companies deny liability by casting doubt on causation, the central issue in a toxic-tort lawsuit. One tactic the industry has employed — with aid from the study — is to separate cancers into subsets, making it harder to prove a specific link between benzene and the disease. David Eastmond, a toxicology professor at University of California, Riverside, said that the petrochemical industry “gets sued on a fairly regular basis” over “a wide range of diseases.” </font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“If [it] could narrow down which subtypes are caused by benzene,” he explained, “the industry could eliminate a number of lawsuits.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Industry-funded Shanghai researchers found that only certain subtypes of MDS and AML are significantly linked to benzene.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Now, in claims involving auto mechanics, gas station attendants and printers, plaintiff’s lawyers are seeing this claim play out in court. There is the case, for example, of a contract worker for southeast Texas refineries and chemical plants who washed his tools in benzene and later developed MDS. Citing a 2009 article by Irons, defense lawyers argued that the worker didn’t have the subtype of MDS associated with benzene exposure. The worker’s family resolved the case under terms that remain confidential.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In another case, a refinery technician who used benzene in laboratory experiments developed the very MDS subtype the 2009 article tied to the chemical. In testimony, however, defense experts used the Shanghai research not to affirm this link, but rather to debate whether his MDS was, in fact, properly diagnosed. The case settled in 2010 as part of a confidential agreement.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"You don’t want to find out you have cancer at that age because of somebody else’s wrongdoing."- Brian Milward</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Some find such defenses scientifically disingenuous. Hayes, the former NCI scientist, who is now head of epidemiology at New York University’s medical school, explained that scientists cannot eliminate a disease subtype simply because a study doesn’t show an association with benzene exposure. “It doesn’t mean there isn’t any effect,” he said. “The end result is to sow the seeds of doubt.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Wong said that all he and his fellow researchers can do is report their findings — positive and negative. “I’m sure some people use the results in their own way,” he said, referring to defense lawyers. “I can’t really speak to that.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Acknowledging that “no study can prove a negative,” Irons defends the Shanghai research as “the best available evidence” benzene causes only certain disease subtypes. That “doesn’t reduce the fact that benzene is associated with MDS,” he said — or, for that matter, AML. And ultimately, some say, these findings aren’t as conclusive as oil executives may have wanted.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“In terms of something that would once and forever cause the petroleum industry’s legal liability problems to go away,” said review panelist Rice, “it didn’t do that.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In fact, some outcomes have hurt defendants in court. In 2004, after 30 years fixing refrigerators at ice-skating rinks and meat-packing plants — receiving a daily dose of petroleum-based products — Brian Milward developed a rare condition known as acute promyelocytic leukemia, or APL. At the time, he was 47 years old.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“You don’t want to find out you have cancer at that age because of somebody else’s wrongdoing,” Milward said, explaining he had no idea the solvents and paints he used to clean and seal pipes contained benzene until after he was diagnosed.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Brian Milward with his granddaughter while Milward was receiving chemotheropy treatment. Courtesy of Brian Milward</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In 2007, he filed suit against Rustoleum Paints and 20 other manufacturers, whose experts argued no epidemiological studies show a link between benzene and APL. Experts hired by Milward countered that evidence linking benzene to AML essentially links it to all subtypes, including APL. The judge disagreed, ruling for the defendants. But the debate has stymied the case, fueling appeals on both sides, and sparking a brief signed by 27 preeminent scientists affirming benzene can cause any leukemia.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Meanwhile, the Shanghai study affirmed the very link Milward’s lawyers tried to draw. In a 2010 article confirming benzene’s tie to “an increased risk of AML,” Wong discussed the relationship by disease subtype. APL was the “most strongly related” to benzene exposure, he wrote.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">While the ruling against Milward eventually was struck down, he has yet to appear before a jury. After settling with every defendant but Rustoleum, he has watched the company challenge the science again. This time, defense experts question whether his workplace exposures could have caused his cancer. A second appeal is pending.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Now in remission, Milward must grapple with cancer’s lasting effects. Nearly a decade of chemotherapy, along with diabetes and a rare bowel disorder, have left him battling what he calls “absolutely ridiculous” fatigue. Retired and on disability, he remembers returning to work twice. First, he resorted to napping to endure an eight-hour shift. When his boss assigned him to office duty, pushing paper and making calls, he still fell asleep at his desk.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“I can’t really do anything,” said Milward, 57 — at least, not what he loves: repairing race cars, working in his yard, playing with his grandchildren. “It just sucks when you get a cancer like this.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">‘He never complained’</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">To family and friends in Deweyville, Texas, a pine-shaded town along the Louisiana border, John Thompson was “John” — a life-long resident, church deacon and carpentry teacher who reinforced souls as much as structures. To Irons, the Shanghai study investigator who charged $600 per hour as an expert witness, he was “John H. Thompson” — deceased, one of three case referrals from a corporate-defense firm, all in lawsuits alleging cancers caused by benzene.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Thompson had built scaffolding for refineries and chemical plants in the 1960s and early '70s. At the end of most workdays he'd be covered in a thick adhesive known as mastic and would use pure benzene to get it off his hands, clothes and tools. In 2010, three months after Thompson’s death, Irons flew to Houston from China to testify in the benzene litigation, armed with what he has called “the largest single study of AML in history” —the Shanghai study. In a deposition, the scientist touted the research, saying it “inform[ed] with respect to disease specificity to a much greater degree than other previous epidemiological studies.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Assumptions and presumptions,” Irons testified, “have to be modified and re-assessed.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The comment proved prescient in Thompson’s case.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In 2006, the former contract worker was mowing his lawn when he mentioned feeling fatigued. A pillar of a man, Thompson, then 66, had gotten two heart stents without uttering a gripe. “He never complained,” said Chase Bowers, his nephew. Not when he broke both arms on an oil rig, or lost his left eye in a shop accident. Bowers, who, as a teenager, was raised by Thompson and his wife, Carol, remembers watching a tree branch rip open his uncle’s ear. One emergency-room visit and Thompson returned to work.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“That’s the kind of guy he was,” Bowers said.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Within days of the lawn-mowing episode, Thompson learned he had acquired AML — specifically, a subtype of AML known as “inversion 16.”</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"If oil companies are willing to spend $36 million to fund research, how much are they afraid of losing?"- Chase Bowers, nephew to John Thompson</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>In the contentious world of toxic-tort litigation, Thompson’s case seems like a classic: The only leukemia the petrochemical industry has admitted benzene can cause is AML — especially at higher doses. </b>According to the Shell benzene-litigation defense guide, the industry might have classified Thompson’s case as “high risk”: He not only suffered from AML, but, as the guide states, “pure benzene is involved,” and his “exposure took place prior to OSHA involvement.” Experts hired by the family estimated Thompson’s cumulative benzene exposures were five times greater than the legal limit.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>At trial, however, the case turned out to be anything but a slam dunk</b>. Citing the Shanghai study, Irons worked to debunk a link between benzene and the type of AML afflicting Thompson. The Shanghai research has shown approximately two of the 20 AML subtypes are significantly associated with the chemical, he testified — neither of them “inversion 16.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“We found many cases of inversion 16,” Irons said in court. “We did not find an association between benzene exposure and inversion 16.” Other scientists disagree, arguing that if benzene causes one subtype of AML, it likely causes all of them.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Keith Hyde, a Beaumont, Texas, lawyer who represents plaintiffs in toxic-tort cases, including the Thompsons, remembers Irons highlighting one Shanghai article after another at trial, raising doubt. “You have doubt here and there through all these industry studies,” Hyde said. “Let’s just say they do their job.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>After two weeks of testimony, the Thompson case ended in mistrial. The suit ultimately was resolved under terms that remain confidential.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In April, Carol, Thompson’s widow, died of liver cancer. In the years after the benzene trial, she rarely mentioned the ordeal — too many painful memories. She had to relive her husband’s death daily in court, watching videos and hearing testimony on his decline. “It was devastating for my aunt,” Bowers said. In his view, she never understood the extent to which oil and chemical companies hid benzene’s hazards and tried to spin the science.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“There’s obvious vested interest here,” Bowers said of the Shanghai study. “If oil companies are willing to spend $36 million to fund research, how much are they afraid of losing?”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Ashley Schwartz contributed to this story.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">More stories about</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, ExxonMobil, Commodity chemicals, Benzene, Chemical industry, Mutagens, Petrochemicals, BP, Acute myeloid leukemia, Toxic tort, Myelodysplastic syndrome, PetroChina, Richard Irons, John Thompson, Chase Bowers</font></font></font></font></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>game over tipping pt?! </b>rbg v gorsuch</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2018/5/23/supreme_court_deals_blow_to_workers">https://www.democracynow.org/2018/5/23/supreme_court_deals_blow_to_workers</a></font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">a major blow to workers’ rights, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 Monday that employers can use arbitration clauses to prohibit workers from banding together to challenge violations of federal labor laws in class-action lawsuits. Arbitration is often confidential. Many workers may agree to mandatory arbitration clauses without even being aware of it when they sign a contract with their employer. In a rare show of public displeasure, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg read her dissent from the bench, calling the majority opinion “egregiously wrong” and saying, “The court today holds enforceable these arm-twisted, take-it-or-leave-it contracts—including the provisions requiring employees to litigate wage and hours claims only one-by-one. Federal labor law does not countenance such isolation of employees.” For more, we speak with Terri Gerstein, former labor bureau chief for the New York State Attorney General’s Office</font></span></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">andy k moko</font></font></font></p><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Two years later, the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> US Chamber of Commerce, under the leadership of an aggressive new president named Tom Donohue, picked up on Rove’s strategy.</span>Pledging to “play hardball” against “frivolous” lawsuits, the Chamber spent $10 million on judicial races in 2000 alone. It pumped $4.4 million into Ohio’s Supreme Court election—the largest expenditure from a single source on a court race in US history.</b> In the following years, the Chamber injected tens of millions into races in <b>Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, and Wisconsin</b>. Corporate America had grasped the potential to install friendly judges who could crack down on costly class actions and neutralize the efforts of consumer advocates. “We’re clearly engaged in hand-to-hand combat,” as Donohue put it, “and we’ve got to step it up if we’re going to survive.”</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Unions spent millions on these races as well—particularly across the Upper Midwest, as labor leaders recognized they could get a great return on investment by backing justices sympathetic to workers’ rights.</b> As an official with the Ohio AFL-CIO once said: “We figured out a long time ago that it’s easier to elect seven judges than to elect 132 legislators.”</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A major showdown came in 2004, in West Virginia’s Supreme Court election.<b> Don Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy</b>, donated $3 million to Republican candidate Brent Benjamin. Meanwhile, a nonprofit funded primarily by Massey Energy ran TV ads accusing incumbent Justice Warren McGraw of getting a child rapist out of prison and into a job at a high school. After Benjamin won, the investment paid off big time: He later cast the deciding vote to overturn a lower court’s $50 million verdict against Massey Energy. Two years later, the US Supreme Court ruled that Benjamin should have recused himself. It overturned the decision and sent the case back to West Virginia. (Massey Energy ultimately prevailed in state court.)</font></span></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Corporate interests also reaped a huge return on investment in the <b>2004 Supreme Court election in Illinois. Five years earlier, a jury had handed down a $1.19 billion penalty to the insurance company State Farm for requiring millions of claimants to accept subpar replacement auto parts. State Farm</b> and its employees—working through the US Chamber, the Illinois Republican Party, and an Illinois-based tort reform group—steered $4 million to elect a sympathetic judge named Lloyd Karmeier to the Supreme Court, which was considering State Farm’s appeal of the auto parts verdict. Karmeier, his opponent, and various outside groups spent a record $9.3 million on the race. Karmeier, who would later acknowledge that the sum was “obscene,” won easily. And the millions State Farm spent were a pittance compared with what it gained: The next year, Karmeier cast the deciding vote to overturn the more than $1 billion verdict against State Farm.</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Up to this point, the big spenders were mostly targeting contested judicial elections—ones in which a candidate challenged a sitting justice. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Then came the Iowa Supreme Court’s 2009 decision in Varnum v. Brien, in which the seven justices unanimously ruled that the state’s ban on <b>same-sex marriage</b> violated the state constitution. Social-conservative groups leapt into action, targeting three of the seven justices who were up for retention election—ones where voters only check “yes” or “no</span>.” The National Organization for Marriage and its allies spent nearly $1 million and defeated all three. “They wanted to make sure we were punished for our decision and that other judges witnessed that so they wouldn’t do it either,” former Justice Marsha Ternus told me.</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The strategy of turning sleepy retention elections into political showdowns has been spreading. In Florida’s 2012 retention elections, the<b> Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity </b>and the Republican Party of Florida spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to unseat three sitting justices. A group called Defend Justice From Politics spent $3.1 million on the justices’ behalf, helping them prevail. In Michigan in 2012, two anonymously funded nonprofits, the Judicial Crisis Network and Americans for Job Security, poured $2.1 million into attack ads against five judges on Michigan’s 6th Circuit Court, though the judges won out. And earlier this year,<b> Tennessee’s lieutenant governor, Ron Ramsey, took it upon himself to spearhead an effort to unseat three sitting state Supreme Court justices—and, along with them, the attorney general, who is appointed by the court. Ramsey’s PAC pumped $425,000 into a group running negative ads that blasted the three justices as “liberal on crime”</b>and for “<b>helping advance Obamacare.” </b>Funds were also contributed by Americans for Prosperity and the GOP’s State Government Leadership Foundation, which said it planned to spend an additional $5 million in 2014 on judicial races in North Carolina, Tennessee, and elsewhere.</font></span></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Though the three Tennessee justices prevailed in the end, one of them, Connie Clark, told me she’s concerned about the precedent set by the fight. “As long as there are no limits on outside money,” she says, “then this will become the new normal.”</font></span></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The transformation of judicial campaigns has alarmed another veteran of the court system. “Judicial elections pose a serious threat,” former US Supreme Court Justice <b>Sandra Day O’Connor</b> told Mother Jones. “If judicial decisions are in fact not fair and impartial—or even if they are perceived as being biased—the basis of support for our courts crumbles.”</font></font></font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/15/us/politics/republicans-health-care-bill-medical-malpractice-suits.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/15/us/politics/republicans-health-care-bill-medical-malpractice-suits.html</a></font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">wapo</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/house-gop-quietly-advances-key-elements-of-tort-reform/2017/03/09/d52213b2-0414-11e7-b1e9-a05d3c21f7cf_story.html">https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/house-gop-quietly-advances-key-elements-of-tort-reform/2017/03/09/d52213b2-0414-11e7-b1e9-a05d3c21f7cf_story.html</a></font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By Kimberly Kindy March 9 </font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">House Republicans are advancing a series of bills that would make changes to the civil justice system long sought by doctors and U.S. corporations, including a cap on some medical malpractice awards and new roadblocks for classes of people seeking to sue jointly to address harm. </font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups are promoting the measures, arguing that courts have grown overly tolerant of frivolous and fraudulent claims. Civil rights and consumer groups oppose the measures, saying they would severely limit the ability of average Americans to pursue legal remedies from powerful institutions.</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One proposal would limit monetary awards in medical malpractice suits to $250,000 for noneconomic damages, which include pain and suffering. Currently, there is no federal limit on medical malpractice claims, and awards can run into the millions of dollars.</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Late Thursday, the House narrowly passed two of the four measures along party lines: The Innocent Party Protection Act would shift some claims to the federal system from state courts, which tend to be more sympathetic to plaintiffs. The Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act would permit class-action lawsuits to proceed in federal court only if every person in the class had “an injury of the same type and scope.”</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A third bill is expected to come before the chamber Friday: The Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act would require federal judges to sanction attorneys whose claims are later found frivolous. In a letter to congressional leaders, opponents said the measure would have a “chilling effect” on a broad range of complaints, including civil rights violations, employment discrimination and environmental abuses.</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Currently, there is no federal limit on medical malpractice claims, and awards can run into the millions of dollars. (Reuters)</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The House has approved similar measures in recent years only to see them stall in the Senate. But the Senate may be more inclined to seriously consider the measures, advocates said, with a Republican president inclined to sign them in the White House.</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During House debate Thursday,<b> Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), </b>who introduced the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act, said the effort is intended to rebalance a justice system that has tilted too far in favor of plaintiff’s attorneys and their clients.</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“There are so many frivolous lawsuits, ruining people’s reputations, robbing people of their livelihoods. We have to do something to reduce these junk lawsuits,” Smith said. “Often they are filed with the intention of getting a settlement. It’s a form of legal extortion.”...</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></font></font></p><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="38" data-ved="0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQFQgmKAAwAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://issa.house.gov/news-room/press-releases/house-passes-medical-tort-reform" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">House Passes Medical Tort Reform | Issa</font></a></font></font></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv SWb" style="height: 18px; 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Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Vista) released the following <span style="font-weight: bold;">statement</span> on the final <span style="font-weight: bold;">tax reform bill</span> released today by the Conference Committee to the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tax</span> ...</font></span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="44" data-ved="0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQFQgsKAEwAQ"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/house-gop-quietly-advances-key-elements-of-tort-reform/2017/03/09/d52213b2-0414-11e7-b1e9-a05d3c21f7cf_story.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">House GOP quietly advances key elements of tort reform - The ...</font></a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; 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display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li></ol></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/house-gop-quietly-advances-key-elements-of-tort-reform/2017/03/09/d52213b2-0414-11e7-b1e9-a05d3c21f7cf_story.html+tort+reform+tax+bill+news&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQHwgwMAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f" style="">Mar 9, 2017 - </span>House Republicans are advancing a series of <span style="font-weight: bold;">bills</span> that would make changes to the civil justice system long sought by doctors and U.S. corporations, including a cap on some <span style="font-weight: bold;">medical malpractice</span> awards and new roadblocks for classes of people seeking to sue jointly to address harm. The U.S. Chamber of ...</font></span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="50" data-ved="0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQFQgyKAIwAg"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/274042-conservative-backlash-against-gop-bill-surprised-sponsor" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Conservative backlash against tort reform bill surprised GOP sponsor ...</font></a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">thehill.com/policy/.../274042-conservative-backlash-against-gop-bill-surprised-spons...</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; 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display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f" style="">Mar 23, 2016 - </span>The Republican author of a popular <span style="font-weight: bold;">medical malpractice bill</span> that was derailed in committee on Tuesday said conservative opposition caught him unaware.<wbr /> ... The <span style="font-weight: bold;">tort reform bill</span> is a high priority for the Judiciary Committee and for GOP leadership.<wbr /> ... Franks suggested he would be adding ...</font></span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="57" data-ved="0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQFQg5KAMwAw"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2017/06/29/house-passes-medical-malpractice-tort-reform-bill/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">House Passes Medical Malpractice Tort Reform Bill - The Daily Caller</font></a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">dailycaller.com/2017/06/29/house-passes-medical-malpractice-tort-reform-bill/</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; 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display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li></ol></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mFaKMDIVNrIJ:dailycaller.com/2017/06/29/house-passes-medical-malpractice-tort-reform-bill/+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f" style="">Jun 29, 2017 - </span>WASHINGTON — The House passed medical <span style="font-weight: bold;">tort reform legislation</span> Wednesday that is intended to help lower the cost of health insurance by lessening the burden of medical lawsuits. ... It could also be applied to coverage that is only partially covered by a government program or <span style="font-weight: bold;">tax</span> benefit. The <span style="font-weight: bold;">bill</span> does ...</font></span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="63" data-ved="0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQFQg_KAQwBA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/house-passes-medical-malpractice-bill/article/2627374" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">House passes medical malpractice bill - Washington Examiner</font></a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">www.washingtonexaminer.com/house-passes-medical-malpractice-bill/article/2627374</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; 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padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yFHtOM4lCHsJ:www.washingtonexaminer.com/house-passes-medical-malpractice-bill/article/2627374+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li></ol></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yFHtOM4lCHsJ:www.washingtonexaminer.com/house-passes-medical-malpractice-bill/article/2627374+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f" style="">Jun 28, 2017 - </span>The <span style="font-weight: bold;">bill</span>, the Protecting Access to Care <span style="font-weight: bold;">Act</span>, would overhaul rules on <span style="font-weight: bold;">medical malpractice</span>lawsuits. ... It would apply to healthcare lawsuits that involve coverage provided through a federal program such as Medicare or Medicaid or to coverage that is partly paid for by a government subsidy or<span style="font-weight: bold;">tax</span> benefit.</font></span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="69" data-ved="0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQFQhFKAUwBQ"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/15/us/politics/republicans-health-care-bill-medical-malpractice-suits.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">G.O.P. Bill Would Make Medical Malpractice Suits Harder to Win - The ...</font></a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.nytimes.com/.../republicans-health-care-bill-medical-malpractice-suits.html</font></cite></div><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="f" style="">Apr 15, 2017 - </span>But Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, said the <span style="font-weight: bold;">bill</span> would deny full restitution to many victims of <span style="font-weight: bold;">medical malpractice</span>. ... said this meant that the House <span style="font-weight: bold;">bill</span> would apply to health insurance provided by employers, because the federal government provides a <span style="font-weight: bold;">tax</span> break for such coverage.</font></span></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="72" data-ved="0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQFQhIKAYwBg"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/2/trump-tort-reform-threatens-7th-amendment/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Trump tort reform threatens the 7th Amendment - Washington Times</font></a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/.../trump-tort-reform-threatens-7th-amendme...</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; 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padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:omVnykbqVLIJ:https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/2/trump-tort-reform-threatens-7th-amendment/+&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li></ol></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:omVnykbqVLIJ:https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/2/trump-tort-reform-threatens-7th-amendment/+&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f" style="">Mar 2, 2017 - </span>While everyone gives the speech the good marks it deserves, there was one disturbing part of the speech. President Trump called for <span style="font-weight: bold;">tort reform</span>, which means the demise of the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Most Americans can identify only a few of the Amendments of the<span style="font-weight: bold;">Bill</span> of Rights.</font></span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="78" data-ved="0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQFQhOKAcwBw"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/house-republicans-see-tort-reform-in-aca-overhaul/433202/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">House Republicans see tort reform in ACA overhaul | Healthcare Dive</font></a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/house-republicans-see-tort-reform.../433202/</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="Fmb ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=tort+reform+tax+bill+news&oq=tort+reform+tax+bill+news&aqs=chrome..69i57.13071j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#" id="am-b7" aria-label="Result details" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQ7B0IUDAH" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; 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padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DgPCclDN-tkJ:https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/house-republicans-see-tort-reform-in-aca-overhaul/433202/+&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li></ol></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DgPCclDN-tkJ:https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/house-republicans-see-tort-reform-in-aca-overhaul/433202/+&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f" style="">Jan 3, 2017 - </span>GOP leaders in the House claim there is a <span style="font-weight: bold;">medical malpractice</span> crisis and are determined to make <span style="font-weight: bold;">tort reform</span> a cornerstone of their ACA overhaul, ... While malpractice cases and defensive medicine comprise about 3% of the nation's $3.2 trillion healthcare <span style="font-weight: bold;">bill</span>, tougher tort laws don't guarantee more ...</font></span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="84" data-ved="0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQFQhUKAgwCA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/7944138/tort-reform-bill-dies" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Tort Reform Bill Dies - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL</font></a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/7944138/tort-reform-bill-dies</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; 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display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li></ol></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/7944138/tort-reform-bill-dies+tort+reform+tax+bill+news&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQHwhYMAg" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">By Leland Kim. HAWAII STATE CAPITOL (KHNL) -- Judiciary Committee Chair Tommy Waters (D-Lanikai, Waimanalo, Island of Kaula) held a controversial medical liability or <span style="font-weight: bold;">tort reform bill</span> in his hands Thursday. "It's not doctors versus lawyers," he said. "I know the proponents of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">bill</span> want to frame it that way. For me, it's ...</font></span></a></div></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/7944138/tort-reform-bill-dies+tort+reform+tax+bill+news&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQHwhYMAg" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">
</a><p><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/7944138/tort-reform-bill-dies+tort+reform+tax+bill+news&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQHwhYMAg" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">--</font></a></p>
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</a><p><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/7944138/tort-reform-bill-dies+tort+reform+tax+bill+news&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwie8pbO1JbYAhWJSyYKHRDSALQQHwhYMAg" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">8/16 2x frontline see th phillips tx scotus</font></a>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">THOMAS R. PHILLIPS</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trustee, Center for American and International Law</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thomas R. Phillips</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Partner at Baker Botts</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Austin, TexasLaw Practice</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Current</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Baker Botts L.L.P.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Previous</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">South Texas College of Law, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of law, Supreme Court of Texas</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Education</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Harvard Law School</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">500+</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">connections</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">View Thomas R.’s full profile. It's free!</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Your colleagues, classmates, and 400 million other professionals are on LinkedIn.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">View Thomas R.’s Full Profile</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Summary</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thomas R. Phillips is a partner in the Austin office of Baker Botts L.L.P., concentrating in general litigation, including appellate, trial strategy, and alternate dispute resolution. He joined the Firm after serving as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas from 1988-2004 and Judge of the 280th District Court of Harris County from 1981-88.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since rejoining Baker Botts, Phillips has argued numerous appeals in the Supreme Court of Texas and in the courts of appeals of Texas, involving, among other issues, fraud, breach of contract, administrative law, public nuisance, statutory interpretation, health care delivery, public pension systems, electricity deregulation, pharmaceutical liability, professional liability, state taxation, eminent domain, and federal and state constitutional appeals.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He currently serves on the board of the Texas State Historical Association and was a member of the Texas Historical Commission from 2005-12.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A native of Dallas, Phillips earned a B.A. from Baylor University in 1971 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1974. He has been awarded honorary doctoral degrees from St. Edward’s University and Texas Tech University.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Link to professional bio: http://www.bakerbotts.com/thomas-r-phillips/</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Experience</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Partner</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Baker Botts L.L.P.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 2005 – Present (10 years 11 months)</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Spurgeon E. Bell Distrnguished Visitng Professor</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">South Texas College of Law</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">August 2004 – May 2005 (10 months)</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Visting Professor</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Southern Methodist University Dedman School of law</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">August 2004 – December 2004 (5 months)</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chief Justice</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Supreme Court of Texas</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">January 1988 – September 2004 (16 years 9 months)</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">District Judge</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">280th District Court of Harris County</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">July 1981 – January 1988 (6 years 7 months)</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Associate</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Baker & Botts</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">September 1975 – June 1981 (5 years 10 months)</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Organizations</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Conference of Chief Justices</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">President, 1997-98</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Starting January 1988</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Law Institute</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Advisor, Principles of Election Law, 2011-present; Advisor, Federal Judicial Code Project, 1996-2001</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Starting 1990</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Litigation Counsel of America</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fellow</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Starting 2014</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Center for American and International Law</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trustee</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Starting 1992</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration, NYU Law School</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Director</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Starting 2006</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">South Texas College of Law</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Director</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2006 – 2011</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Judicature Society</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Director, 1989-95, 1999-2005</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Starting 1987</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Texas Judicial Council</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chair, 1997-2004</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1988 – 2004</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Bar Association</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Commission on the 21st Century Judiciary, 2002-03; Task Force on Lawyers' Political Contributions, 1997-98</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Starting 1975</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">State Bar of Texas</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chair, Pattern Jury Charge Committee Volume IV, 1985-88; Vice Chair, Committee on Administration of Justice, 1986-88; Member, Committee on Rules of Evidence, 1983-88</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Texas Historical Commission</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Commissioner</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2005 – 2012</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Texas State Historical Association</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Director</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Starting 2014</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Baylor University Presidential Search Advisory Committee</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Member</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2009 – 2010</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Texas Bipartisan Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Member</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Starting 2013</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Public Member</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2006 – 2008</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Member</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2005 – 2005</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mitt Romney Campaign Justice Advisory Committee</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Member</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2011 – 2012</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bastrop County Historical Society</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Director</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2004 – 2008</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Philosophical Society of Texas</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Member</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Starting 1990</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Publications</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Merits of Merit Selection</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">32 Harv. J. L. P. P. 67</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2009</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Authors:</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thomas R. Phillips</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Free Speech for Judges and Fair Appeals for Litigants: Judicial Recusal in a Post-White World</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">55 Drake L. Rev. 691</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2007</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Authors:</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thomas R. Phillips</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">State Supreme Courts: Local Courts in a Global World</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">38 Texas Int'l L. J. 557</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2003</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Authors:</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thomas R. Phillips</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Electoral Accountability and Judicial Independence</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">64 Ohio St. L. J. 137</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2003</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Authors:</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thomas R. Phillips</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Constitutional Right to a Remedy</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">78 N. Y. U. L. Rev. 1309</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2003</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Authors:</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thomas R. Phillips</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===-</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">tort reform in texas: "rove's genius at work"</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tort reform was one of President Bush's top campaign issues in 2004 -- and one that frequently received the most applause at campaign fundraisers. Karl Rove saw the power of this issue almost 20 years earlier in Texas. He grasped its significance before others did, capitalized on it in the races that he ran in the 1980s and made tort reform a propelling factor in the Republicans' ascendancy in Texas. Discussing this chapter in Rove's political career is Sam Gwynne, editor of Texas Monthly; Bill Miller, a Texas political consultant; Kim Ross, a lobbyist for the Texas Medical Association; and Tom Phillips, former chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">photo of gwynne</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">sam gwynne</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Executive editor, Texas Monthly</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">read the full interview</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1988 is, in many ways, a watershed for Rove. It shows you how an issue can … help Republicans accelerate this trend towards Republicanism. And the issue was tort reform. I think that the country is about to get a big dose of this [issue], but we've been having big doses of this for a long time [in Texas] -- in fact, since Karl Rove started to run Supreme Court justices back in the late '80s. The Supreme Court basically swung 100 percent, too. Rove ran almost every single one of them.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The kind of cases that would come to the Supreme Court would be, somebody works for an oil refinery down in Corpus Christi or something, and somebody gets hurt, or let's say, claims long-term poisoning by the atmosphere -- big case like this [is] your typical tort case. So a worker for the company would be poisoned or claiming he was poisoned, and then he would sue the company. And of course, the trial lawyers, the tort lawyers, would come in behind this guy, and the corporate defense lawyers would take [on] the major oil company that was being sued. This then would go up through the various lower courts, state courts and appellate courts. And some of these cases would get to the [Texas] Supreme Court.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So let's say the Supreme Court sided with the little guy all the time, which they did in the '80s. It became, in effect, a plaintiff's court. The Supreme Court in Texas was ruling almost every time in the favor of plaintiffs. The effect of this ... is you get higher malpractice rates for doctors; insurance costs a lot more money. Some people perceive it as an ill to society to have too many verdicts in favor of plaintiffs. If a woman gets scalded by McDonald's coffee, maybe she shouldn't get a $5 million award. This is the realm that we're in now.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So Karl comes in and says, "You know, we're going to run [with] tort reform. And he does for a whole decade.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How does he come up with this idea?</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He wasn't the first one to think about it, but he understood what it was, and he understood how it could be used. He began deliberately to work for candidates for whom that issue was important. I think one of the reasons perhaps that someone in Texas would think of tort reform before someone in Iowa is because we have some of the most famous plaintiffs venues in the country here. In the Golden Triangle of Beaumont area of Texas, you have a lot of plants that made asbestos and other things or that used a lot of chemical and oil refinery. The border is perhaps the most notorious place. That's where the famous McDonald's verdict came from. Texas was a place where a smart trial lawyer could venue shop and get himself a good jury and get, you know, a $30 million verdict against a large company and win it and then take obviously half of it. This was the place where that sort of thing happened. So I think that Karl ... saw it as a coming issue, and a big one. And believe me, not everybody saw this.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The other side of it was … if you looked at the biggest givers to the Texas Democratic Party in the '80s and the '90s, you would see at the top of that list trial lawyers. So it became this giant pitched battle, because it wasn't just necessarily about the kind of verdicts and the ease with which someone might get a verdict for a plaintiff, but it was also about the back end, which was the financing of the entire Democratic Party. Karl saw it as an adversary proposition in that particular way, and he also saw, through these Supreme Court candidates, that this was the wave to ride. And he rode it.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now, the Supreme Court candidates in the state of Texas or almost anywhere else are "down ballot," as they say in the business. We're not talking about the governorship, for example. We're talking about something that is important to a certain group of people: business interests, trial lawyers, a handful of other people. … How does he figure out that this is the vulnerable spot? Is that Rove's genius at work or what?</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I think it's Rove genius at work. I think he understands the significance of the issue before most people do. Most people do not understand that it's going to be this giant, pitched battle, which it becomes in the '90s -- I mean, a real pitched battle. It's a battle for the soul of Texas politics because it's a battle for the money, the lifeline money of Democrats, which is now drying up. …</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bill Miller</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Texas political consultant</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How does tort reform become an issue in a state like this? And how important was it?</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Well, what happened in tort reform is that Republicans were still thwarted in winning statewide office in many ways. And there was not a breakthrough moment until 60 Minutes came to the state in '89 and did an expose, is justice for sale on the Texas Supreme Court? They had done some filming at a retreat where judges were there, and there were big trial lawyers, and it was just too friendly for words. You looked at the pictures and you think, "This really doesn't measure up."</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And many of the decisions coming out of the court were angering -- and that's putting it mildly -- business interests in the state. Suddenly, you had this TV profile about the Supreme Court.</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bill Clements had won election to the governorship after being thwarted in '82, and the chief justice retired. So he appointed a fellow named Tom Phillips to become chief justice. Tom is as straight as the day is long -- nicest guy you'll ever want to meet. He had a great issue, and he had Karl Rove as his consultant and they took [on] the court. They beat the Democrats, and then the Democrats began seeing that this is going to be a hard place to live successfully.</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The other members of the court left. Other appointments were made. And suddenly the court was beginning to switch to Republican. And this is down ballot, which is not normally how you win statewide races. You win at the top rather than the bottom. But because the court had tort reform and Karl, it was a great environment to elect Republicans. You could raise a huge amount of money. You had a great gut emotional issue, and you were in business.</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What makes it a great gut emotional issue?</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If you have tort reform, and you have a news profile that basically slams your opposition -- in this case the trial bar; it makes them look like total sellouts, buying justice, buying the result on the court -- that is something that people can feel. It's a visceral reaction. It's dishonest. And then you got the 60 Minutes label on this, and all of a sudden you've got money, you got a good candidate, you got a visceral issue. When people see it, they get emotionally tight about it.</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What's your assessment of the effect, in terms of Texas politics, of those victories?</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Well, I think that what happened is the trial bar became the bogeyman in state politics. Anybody who took money from trial lawyers became part of tort reform [opposition]. And so in legislative races and other races, any time the Democratic Party and the Democratic candidates took an enormous amount of money from the trial bar, then you could say, "They're in the back pocket of the trial bar." It gave you an issue going forward, and you could paint your opponent as being against tort reform and in the pocket of the trial bar. That worked as a miracle drug for politics.</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In other words, if you just got some money from the trial lawyers --</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Your opponent had to defend taking that money. And you know, the environment was such that defense was never credible. The more you talk about it, the deeper the hole. …</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Part of the story of the Supreme Court and tort reform was that the system was awash in all kinds of funny money. … And Phillips made this promise or pledge…</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He did a self-limitation on contributions. In Texas you can give as much money as you choose to in state races, and Tom Phillips was the first candidate, I believe, who sort of self-limited what he would receive. At the end of the day it didn't really affect the amount of money he raised, because he raised millions and millions of dollars. He just raised it in slightly smaller amounts than the big chunks that you see otherwise.</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How smart an idea was that, at the time?</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Well, it was a perfect idea for coming out of what you had seen that you're working against the trial bar, which had given enormous-sized checks. So it made him look like he was trying to clean up the system and look straight and narrow. And that was exactly the perception that people had of him. And that's exactly the way he is, really. …</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">kim ross</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lobbyist, Texas Medical Association</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">…How does [Karl Rove] attach himself to this issue, or the issue attach itself to him?</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He knew intuitively, as most of us would have, that you had to have, as Mark Twain says, "a devil for the crusade." And if this was the crusade in the context of a judicial race, of which no one really cares about, you had to demonize somebody and in this case it was central casting. [The Supreme Court justices] were doing it to themselves. They were writing opinions that were offensive on their face. And essentially one particular opinion stated, "I don't care what this court previously said. I don't care what the legislature said. In fact, I was in this legislature when this law was passed. It was a political compromise. I've been elected to the court, and therefore I have a mandate to change these laws because they just aren't right." And there was a level of hubris, and we had a side that allowed us to exploit that. And it just so happened, because that was that era when the trial lawyers were a very convenient device for us to use to begin to educate voters in terms of a philosophical shift.</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And Karl's particular skill position, his expertise?</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Communication. He has a gift for messaging, among other things, as history has shown us. But a great sense of campaigning, knowing where the votes were, knowing what messages worked with which voters. … Karl retailed it and convinced a very cynical lobby to impose self limits … on what [amount of money] they would accept, again distinguishing himself. It was a ingenious approach.</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of course the chief justice [Tom Phillips] was a very, very bright man -- but so was Karl. And [Phillips] sat us in a room and he said, "I know you all want to send me more money. I will not accept more than this," what we thought were fairly minimal amounts, knowing the other side was going to outspend us. And Rove said, "And that's the point. Their strength becomes their weakness." And I was nodding my head and thinking, "That's very smart and bold and very risky, but also arguably by far the best strategy to take if you want to take the risk." …</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So what tort reform really is, is a catch phrase, an organizing principle. It's like "Right to Work…"</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yeah, it's an organizing principle to bring together swing voters and, more importantly, to consolidate business [and] professional communities together. And frankly … tort reform has a kinder, gentler face. … It's a way of softening the blunt instrument that tort reform is when you're asking to limit damages or to allow to counter sue or limit standards for expert witnesses and all the things that are the esoterica of what, essentially, is saying, "Plaintiff, you had this right, but we're taking it away because we think you've abused it." And you do it by putting a lab coat on and arguing about access to care and the cost of medical care, not whether or not Dow Chemical is going to pay this or this and punitive damages on a suit where they might or might not be guilty. …</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Was tort reform a big issue in [the 1994 Texas governor's race]?</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It was. Yeah, it was.</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And that was Karl driving that in or that was Bush?</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I think it would be indistinguishable. I mean, it was a mantra-like issue for their natural core constituencies, including doctors. And it was also something that they could run right at Ann [Richards] with, because she had tons of trial lawyer support. It was a wedge issue, but it would have been imprudent not to use it. …</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How important was the success of tort reform in that first term for Bush, for Bush's re-election? …</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It established his pro-business credentials in a real simple and obvious way. It was not in and of itself the one thing, but it was delivering on a promise. It was certainly consolidated business and professional support for him in ways it would make him virtually unassailable from a Democrat ever again, which was something still to consider in those days in Texas. …</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">tom masset</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court (1988-2004)</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">… So the plan for your campaign, what was the bottom line? One of the decisions early on was that you would only accept certain amount of donations. What did you guys sit down and decide and why?</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of the things I liked about working with Karl is, although he was not a lawyer, he instantly perceived why a race for judge needed to be entirely different than a race for any other political office. And why it would be bad for the state -- and fatal politically -- for a judicial candidate, to be taking a position on substantive policy issues that were currently being debated around the state; why judicial candidates had to be seen as, and in fact be completely in adherence with both the spirit and the law of all the ethical codes and the ethical norms that surrounded being a judge.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I think he felt the tension between judges standing for election and judges being judges in a way that most political consultants simply had no patience with. Their view was -- many of them at any rate -- go out and try to jump on some of the bandwagons of momentary public interest, whether that was English-only in the schools, or abortion, or guns, and be seen as a popular advocate for something and win a lot of votes. And the next time an election comes up, if there were other hot issues, by then you could get in front of those. Karl completely rejected that and was instrumental in seeing that the Republican Party rejected that. …</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I made it clear that I was soliciting people to vote for me, not because I was a Republican, but because of the job I would do as a judge. Karl was quite good at crafting that message, and persuading other people to accept that message. I'd never run a contested race before for any office. And I was seen, I think quite rightly, as a neophyte in terms of actual experience. …</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The "Clean Slate '88" vote -- how important was that? And how did that come about? Why did that group take on the important role that they did?</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1988 was a very unusual year because ordinarily there were three justices on the ballot each year, on a nine-justice court, but, because of resignations, there were six races for the Supreme Court on the ballot in 1988. So it was absolutely a chance to shape the whole Texas Supreme Court. …</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And so with an opportunity for six of the nine seats to be decided in one election, a lot of groups that might otherwise have just sat aside and watched … decided to get involved. And there was a coalition built -- which I'm really not aware of the details, because it was conducted separate from the campaign -- that decided to back a bipartisan slate. That was seen to be very important at the time, not only because they genuinely felt that some Republicans and some Democrats were going to be better justices, but also because the state was not a Republican state. … The heritage of the Civil War and FDR, made the Democratic Party the dominant party at the courthouse level in Texas by a huge margin, perhaps 10 to 1 [among] all elected officials in the state.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This "Clean Slate" effort tried to break through that. We tried to go out into areas of the state that had never voted for a Republican before, except perhaps for Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan, maybe Sen. Tower, Sen. Gramm. [We] tried to go out and convince those people that it was safe to vote Republican way further down the ballot, at least in some of the races; that you couldn't look at these judge races on a partisan basis. You had to look at the individuals. The judges weren't going to behave in a party fashion. There wasn't going to be a party platform for the cases they heard.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So what was Karl Rove's involvement with that kind of an organization, and also in understanding that the vote had to be pushed out into the rural areas?</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">… Karl had some excellent ideas of how to take an abstract plan -- let's make a judicial race interesting to 2 million voters -- and put that into practice in a way that people will decide it was important enough to study who all these candidates were in these court races, and cast a vote not based on which party had felt which way about the Civil War, but based on right now, what was important to the people of the state of Texas.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So in 1988, [six] out of nine Supreme Court judges were replaced. … Did that sort of set the stage for a lot of other Republicans, and Republican donors to realize that this was a doable thing?</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I'm sure the fact that [so many Republicans candidates won] the Supreme Court was important in building the Republican Party. For whatever reason the Republicans left very few races unopposed after that on the statewide ballot. I think [there were only] maybe five or six judicial races where there was a Democratic incumbent for the rest of the decade. At most five or six did not have an opponent. And, of course, by the end of the 1990s, Republicans were running unopposed, at least in judicial races. …</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The bigger issue of tort reform, what was Karl Rove's point of view on the issue and in the support that it garnered?</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Well, I think there was a widespread feeling in Texas at the time among the average citizen, as well as among other people, that the trial lawyers were too powerful within the legislature. The plaintiff's personal injury lawyers, as a small group, had wielded an inordinate amount of power in the legislature. And Texas's very lax venue laws -- those are laws that say where you can [hold a] trial -- allowed a disproportionate number of cases to be tried in areas of the state that had no real connection with the dispute, but were areas where juries were known to be liable to give a very large award if their sympathies could be properly invoked.</font>
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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And that reputation was very damaging to the state of Texas in terms of discouraging businesses to locate in Texas, or expand, or discouraging professionals like doctors to locate their practice uniformly across the state rather than just in particular areas. And [many thought] it would be a good thing for Texas if the legislature would overhaul some of the tort laws, and if the judges would have somewhat more respect for the common-law precedence that had obtained in Texas for a long time, and not be quite so "activist," was the popular term in overruling those precedents. And I think Karl felt that. …</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Were you surprised that Karl sort of rode this issue and pushed it and that it still is such a popular issue today, an important issue?</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Well, Gov. Bush ran in 1994 against Gov. Richards on four planks, and tort reform was one of those planks, and he got what he wanted from the legislature on all four of those planks. And since then, some citizen groups have formed in Texas that have been remarkably successful in persuading legislators to adopt their suggested changes in tort law. And they've done it without going through the normal, capitol lobbyist crowd.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I think Karl has seen that, and it has been a salient issue in Texas. And so I'm not surprised that he's interested in that issue, but I don't think you can draw a direct line from Supreme Court races in 1988 to the proposals that President Bush is making before Congress now. …</font>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">capt 6`16</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">refers both to leverage of small groups and indiv using legal system to protect themselves and get compensation for damage, eg civil lawsuit or class action suit (note that scotus has limited latter); also refers to longstanding defund the Left strategy to limit such suits, thus the income of lawyers, thus their politcal contributions (also part of overall rw narrative that gov't imposes too many burdensome regulations, thus stiffles freedom and prosperity).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">cf tobacco and syngenta on atrazine: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Portal:Atrazine_Exposed</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Note also green shifted from political grassroots action to lawsuits, (sometimes against the gov't itself to force it to enforce its own laws). leverage</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">nice context:</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://web.archive.org/web/20141114114235/http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/The-Lewis-Powell-Memo/judicial/</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Powell saw that corporate interests could gain greatly by using the judicial system to their advantage, yet to make the judiciary more sympathetic to business interests, he knew corporations would have to plan and engage in a long-term, multi-dimensional strategy.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Powell Memo on Judicial Influence:</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"[T]he judiciary may be the most important instrument for social, economic and political change. [...] This is a vast area of opportunity for the Chamber, if it is willing to undertake the role of spokesman for American business and if, in turn, business is willing to provide the funds. As with respect to scholars and speakers, the Chamber would need a highly competent staff of lawyers. In special situations it should be authorized to engage, to appear as counsel amicus in the Supreme Court, lawyers of national standing and reputation. The greatest care should be exercised in selecting the cases in which to participate, or the suits to institute. But the opportunity merits the necessary effort."</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(Direct link to this quote in the Powell Memo)</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The big business reaction to Lewis Powell’s judicial and legal strategy was swift. Within a few years, nearly a dozen corporate-funded legal foundations were created. The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) was formed in California in 1973 to counter public-interest law firms and represent the interests of business and private property holders against environmental regulations. PLF’s prospectus quoted the Powell memo at length. (Kim Phillips-Fein, “Invisible Hands,” p. 162).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When asked for his opinion of the “most critical” area of public interest law, PLF’s then-executive legal director replied, “environmental law,” citing the firm’s support for the use of DDT, the construction of a dam and reservoir project, the use of herbicides in national forests and the use of public grazing lands without environmental impact review. The early cases established a clear pattern for PLF and its followers at the Mountain States Legal Foundation and other regionally named corporate defenders. Environmental cases would be a priority and the foundations’ positions in such cases would invariably be those of their business benefactors, including Monsanto, Weyerhaeuser, Gulf Oil, ARCO, Ford and other companies (Houck, "With Charity for All," pp. 1461-1462). The work of these groups also supported the Wise Use movement; radical property rights activists and corporate front groups that attacked environmental laws and regulations on behalf of landowners, ranchers and the oil industry (Helvarg, The War Against the Greens).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The conservative backlash against alleged liberal influence over the law went well beyond the corporate agenda that grew directly out of Powell’s analysis, but there were also tensions between the two. Corporate legal campaigns were primarily self-interested, practical and designed to get both immediate and longer-term results.The conservative legal movement that got its start in the 1970s was more ideologically driven; its greatest successes would take decades, and sometimes came about through indirect means (Teles, The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the juncture between these two was the “law and economics” school, with leading proponents such as Richard Posner at the University of Chicago and George Mason University’s Henry Manne. Manne organized seminars for federal judges through his Law and Economics Center, with support from the Olin Foundation, which also backed some of the leading “second generation” conservative public policy law firms, like the Center for Individual Rights. The foundation’s chairman, John M Olin, was inspired by Powell’s memo to write to William Baroody at the American Enterprise Institute: “The Powell Memorandum gives a reason for a well organized effort to re-establish the validity and importance of the American free enterprise system.” (“Invisible Hands,” Kim Phillips-Fein)</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For its part, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also eventually followed Powell’s advice by creating two legal groups that have carried out a multi-decade legal strategy -- the National Chamber Litigation Center (NCLC) and the Institute for Legal Reform (ILR). NCLC served as the Chamber’s law firm, using aggressive and strategic litigation to challenge regulations and laws. Entering 134 new cases of significance to the business community in 2009, for example, the NCLC helped to secure 52 victories.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) coordinated one of the Chamber’s flagship priorities in the post-Powell era -- the push for “tort reform.” The tort 'reform' campaign was so successful that by 2006, the American Lawyer proclaimed, “It’s Over,” explaining that “the power of the plaintiffs bar is on the wane in this country, and will be for a long time to come.” ILR, along with the American Tort Reform Association (funded by the tobacco, chemical and drug industries, along with the American Medical Association), created a “public relations masterpiece” that demonized trial lawyers, replaced state judges hostile to business interests, and mobilized popular support for business-friendly laws. (See Frankel, “It’s Over”) The campaign erected a variety of judicial and regulatory barriers against plaintiff attorneys and their clients – i.e., the victims of corporate crime and malfeasance -- including caps on punitive and non-economic damages, the abolition of “joint and several liability,” and limits on class action lawsuits. </font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This push for tort 'reform' has also been a legal priority for various industries. According to a document produced by one corporate law firm, for instance, the tobacco industry’s tort reform budget for 1995 alone was $21.8 million (see Covington & Burling Tort Reform Project Budget).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The U.S. Chamber has used the momentum built by decades of successful tort reform to brazenly argue for policies that would shield corporations from having to pay when they are responsible for cases of massive damage. For instance, after the 2010 BP Horizon disaster the Chamber arguedthat the $75 million liability cap should not be lifted retroactively to make BP pay for damages from the oil gusher. This position drew criticism from a variety of expert observers, including Ken Feinberg, the manager of BP’s oil spill compensation fund.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some of the landmark changes in the law that have come about through support from business and conservative interests in recent decades have been used to bolster other strategies outlined by Powell in his memo. An example is the dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine for media, which was introduced to ensure public interest voices would balance commercial interests as part of the bargain for corporate broadcasters' free license to use the People’s airwaves. </font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Another significant shift in the law since Powell’s memo was circulated has been the gradual expansion ofcorporate constitutional rights (referred to by some business groups as “business civil liberties”), especially in the realms of commercial and political speech. The most infamous example is the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In the commercial sphere, companies have similarly used corporate speech doctrines to challenge various restrictions on corporate advertising (e.g. direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs for off-label uses), limits on media ownership, and product safety labeling requirements (e.g. cigarettes and genetically modified foods).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Corporate constitutional rights are regularly claimed (with the implicit threat of litigation) in opposition to new or proposed regulations. One recent example came during recent attacks on regulations created by the Dodd-Frank financial reform package, which contained a provision requiring that companies report their use of tin, gold and other minerals that can be traced back to the conflict-ridden Democratic Republic of the Congo. In its comments to the SEC, Tiffany & Co. claimed the SEC rules would “compel speech in a manner that violates the First Amendment.”</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://ecowatch.com/2016/05/26/monsanto-losses-pcb-lawsuit/</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chow | May 26, 2016 </font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A St. Louis jury has awarded three plaintiffs a total of $46.5 million in damages in a lawsuit alleging that Monsanto and three other companies were negligent in its handling of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a highly toxic and carcinogenic group of chemicals.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This case, which went on trial April 28, involved only three of nearly 100 plaintiffs claiming that exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma. </font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">from asbestos guy swetonic</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tort Reform and Toxic Torts</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Torts" are civil liability claims, and "reform" was a euphemism for restricting the public liability (ie "toxic tort" problems) through various means. The support came from companies with poisoning and polluting problems. "Toxic torts" are product liability claims for noxious substances.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In this area, Swetonic also associated himself with the Manhattan Institute (specifically with Peter Huber and Walter Olson), a think-tank which was funded by the same industries that funded TIEQ. The role of Huber and Olson were to circulate dubious and highly-exaggerated product-liability stories (e.g. A woman got $3 m for spilling hot coffee, etc.) [34]. They did this through books, newspaper and magazine articles, radio and TV, and Olson also ran the http://overlawyered.com website which was modelled on Milloy's http://www.junkscience.com operation [35].</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The manufacture of these legal-urban legends; the exaggeration of claims about plaintiff lawyer greed; and the exaggerated claims of product liability costs were all part of a well-designed coalition strategy designed to support "tort reform" [36]. The sensationalist nature of the stories appealed to the press.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The "tort reform" promoters established a fake legal-services grassroots organization called the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA), which had a number of associated CALA branches (Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse) in various states, well funded by tobacco and other industries. The purpose was to:</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">limit damages (especially punitive damages),</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">restrict the expert evidence available in the courts, and</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">block most class actions [37].</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Junk-man Steve Milloy of TASSC (controlled through APCO) who ran one of the main science lobby group for the tobacco industry, was also a close associate in the tort reform movement. APCO actually run ATRA and the various CALAs under contract, and Milloy also ran the Junk Science web site: http://www.junkscience.com.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Swetonic also utilized the services of Michael Fumento of Investors Business Daily (a pro-industry health-journalist, available for hire) who's column he arranged to have syndicated around the country. This group of lobbyists all had close associations with the ABC TV journalist John Stossel who pushed the "junk science" angle.[38] [39]</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By this time Swetonic had joined the Dilenschneider Group and was on a temporary retainer from Tom Borelli at Philip Morris (who later became Steve Milloy's partner) [[40]].</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">fang machine: C ent complx: pol and poker; running reality tv of cands; right to laugh; jackpot justice (class action)tory; stakelbeck on terror ~ muslim 180-1.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">as goes tx</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TORT REF</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">limited fees, so few lawyers take cases; other side can appeal, def win ony 12%</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">claimed TR wd save 3B$/yr on insurance but but had some of highest premimens and </font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">deductible</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">few work comp cases b/c lawyer gets 630$ of 9 wks work; co can have own plan; </font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">some you have to file complaint same day</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">big # below min wage; hard to union</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">july 13 b fischer</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Justice Denied: 71 ALEC Bills in 2013 Make It Harder to Hold Corporations Accountable for Causing Injury or Death</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For decades, ALEC has been a conduit for the oil, tobacco, and pharmaceutical industries to push legislation that changes the rules to limit accountability when a corporation's products or actions cause injury or death -- such as when a Koch Industries pipeline explodes and kills teenagers, or when the tobacco or pharmaceutical industries withhold evidence that their products are dangerous. In just the first six months of 2013, seventy-one ALEC bills that advance these "tort reform" goals have been introduced in thirty states (see chart below).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Each of these bills would weaken the legal rights of everyday people who are wrongfully harmed by a corporation or health care provider," says Joanne Doroshow, Executive Director of the Center for Justice & Democracy, a group that works to protect the civil justice system and fight tort reform. "[The bills] are carefully crafted to provide relief and protections for the industries who wrote them."</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A long-standing principle of American law gives a person injured (or whose family member is killed) by the fault of another the right to pursue justice and seek fair compensation in front of a judge and jury. An injury for which a person can sue is known as a "tort." Tort lawsuits are one of the few instances where an average American can stand on equal footing with a global corporation, make their case in front of a citizen jury, and demand justice. On a level playing field, consumers often win -- which is why corporate interests want to rig this centuries-old system to their benefit.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tort cases are relatively rare -- they make up only six percent of the entire civil court caseload, and are declining -- but they are effective. Tort liability is why U.S. companies have stopped selling dangerous cribs that strangle infants and children's pajamas that catch fire.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ALEC "tort reform" bills fundamentally alter the tort liability system by making it harder to bring a lawsuit or by limiting a jury's ability to award damages. The bills provide a way for ALEC corporations to escape responsibility for wrongdoing, help ALEC insurance companies limit payouts (and increase profits), and prevent Americans wrongfully injured or killed from receiving just compensation.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC Bills Limit Corporate Accountability, Change Liability Rules</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some ALEC bills limit how much a corporation might have to pay for causing injury.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ALEC "Noneconomic Damage Awards Act" (versions of which were introduced in five states in 2013) limits the amount a jury can award to compensate a person for their diminished quality of life as the result of an injury.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The misleadingly-named "Full and Fair Noneconomic Damages Act" (introduced in two states) limits the amount a corporation might have to pay to compensate a person for their pain and suffering.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The "Phantom Damages Elimination Act" (introduced in two states) changes the rules so a person who paid health insurance premiums for years would recover less for their medical bills than a person who had no insurance: rather than placing the full cost of paying for medical bills on the wrongdoer, the bill would reduce the amount they must pay if a person's insurance company negotiated a discount.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other ALEC bills change how liability is apportioned when more than one individual or corporation is at fault.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Three states introduced versions of the "Comparative Fault Act," which changes the rules so that "if a company is 49% responsible, they are completely off the hook," Doroshow says.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Two states introduced the misleadingly-named "Joint and Several Liability Act," which actually eliminates the Joint and Several rule that has worked for many years and protects victims in situations where it is difficult to pinpoint which defendant is at fault -- such as when multiple companies may have manufactured lead paint -- or where one of the defendants is insolvent. The bill eliminates the rule that had established that after a jury finds a defendant substantially responsible, they can be required to fully reimburse a person for their injury.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other ALEC "model legislation" would provide immunity for certain forms of lawsuits.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Five states introduced the "Emergency Care Immunity Act," which provides immunity to emergency personnel who provide assistance, without compensation, at the scene of an emergency. Providing some legal protections for volunteers in emergency situations may be important, but Doroshow suspects the bill is primarily advanced "for PR purposes" to promote the notion that the tort system is broken.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ten states introduced the "Trespasser Responsibility Act," which would largely absolve landowners from a responsibility to maintain safe premises, and tends to benefit large landowners like railroads, utility companies, and big agriculture. These large corporations would be absolved from their duty to act responsibly, and would be immune if a person accidentally wanders onto their property and are injured by poorly-maintained electrical boxes, dangerous chemicals or farm implements.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC Corporations Reap the Rewards</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Trespasser Responsibility Act was brought to ALEC by Matt Fullenbaum of the American Tort Reform Association and Mark Behrens of Shook Hardy & Bacon, a law firm that has long represented tobacco companies and other industries seeking to avoid tort liability. Behrens is an "advisor" to the ALEC Civil Justice Task Force, as are other Shook Hardy & Bacon attorneys. The head of Shook Hardy & Bacon is Victor Schwartz, the so-called "undisputed king of tort reform" who for many years has chaired the ALEC Civil Justice Task Force.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Others involved with the Civil Justice Task Force include a variety of corporate trade groups that have worked closely with Schwartz and his law firm, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business, as well as the American Insurance Industry and others.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Industries like the tobacco, insurance, oil and chemical industries are pretty detested," Doroshow says, "and trade groups provide a way for these corporations to hide behind a more neutral-sounding entity that will push their agenda. This makes it harder for the public to learn how these detested industries would benefit from tort reform."</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC's corporate members are a who's-who of companies that face tort liability. Its corporate board, recently renamed by ALEC as the "Private Enterprise Advisory Board," includes representatives of fossil fuel interests (Koch Industries, Peabody Energy, Exxon Mobil, Energy Future Holdings), the pharmaceutical industry (PhRMA, Pfizer), and big tobacco (Altria, formally known as Phillip Morris). It also includes insurance companies like State Farm, which profits from a rigged tort liability system by paying out less in claims (even while raising premiums).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An increasingly major player in advancing the ALEC tort reform agenda is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its Institute for Legal Reform, both of which are members of the ALEC Civil Justice Task Force.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A big priority for the Chamber this year has been legislation narrowing access to the courts for asbestos victims. The ALEC "Asbestos Claims Transparency Act" was first adopted by members of the ALEC Civil Justice Task Force in 2007 and was introduced in four states in 2013, in many cases supported by testimony from Shook Hardy & Bacon attorney Mark Behrens on behalf of the Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform. The effort would benefit corporations like Crown Holdings, a Fortune 500 company with over $8 billion in annual sales that has worked with ALEC for years to legislate its way out of compensating asbestos victims, as well as ALEC member Honeywell International, which has faced significant asbestos liability in recent years.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asbestos-related diseases kill at least 10,000 Americans every year, in many cases from mesothelioma, an incurable and painful cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. For decades, asbestos was used for insulation and industrial purposes, and the diseases particularly affect veterans, firefighters, construction workers, and individuals who worked in factories with high-heat machinery.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asbestos company executives knew from at least the 1940s that asbestos was deadly but covered it up for half of a century. For example, an internal memo from a subsidiary of ALEC member Honeywell in 1966 stated, "if you have enjoyed a good life while working with asbestos products why not die from it?" The disease can take between 20 and 50 years to manifest, so individuals exposed decades earlier are only discovering the illness now.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Like the ALEC-supported voter ID laws that spread across the country in recent years, supporters of the Asbestos Claims Transparency Act claim the law is necessary to stop fraud -- despite no persuasive evidence of significant fraud or abuse. The law is couched in terms of "transparency," but is actually designed to save corporations money by delaying justice for asbestos victims and enacting unnecessary procedural hurdles for getting their day in court.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The bill could allow corporations like Crown Holdings or Honeywell to delay a lawsuit until a victim files claims with any other asbestos or personal injury "trust funds," which are accounts set up after a company goes bankrupt to pay claims to injured parties. This requirement, advocates say, is intended to drag out a case until after a sick victim dies -- an especially pointed concern given that asbestos cancer victims usually die within a year after being diagnosed.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In December of 2012, Ohio became the first state to pass the ALEC asbestos bill, which the Chamber publicly applauded: "'As Ohio goes, so goes the nation,' and we hope this will result in a domino effect," said Lisa Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform. The Wall Street Journal editorial board -- which includes Stephen Moore, an ALEC "advisor" -- published an editorial in support of the legislation.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Consumer and worker advocates expect more states to introduce versions of the Asbestos Claims Transparency Act in 2014. A parallel bill has been introduced on the federal level and recently passed the House Judiciary Committee (prompting a response from the New York Times Editorial Board). Testimony presented to Congress from attorneys at Caplin & Drysdale has identified the ALEC connection.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Tort Reform" Bills Contradict ALEC's Alleged Free Market Principles</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A robust tort liability system advances "free market" goals -- a principle ALEC claims to support -- by providing market pressures that provide a check on corporate misbehavior. The possibility of a lawsuit, and the associated financial liability, provides an economic incentive for manufacturers, hospitals, utility companies, and other corporations to be more safe and responsible, and it advances these goals without government regulation and enforcement.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By pushing these "tort reform" bills, ALEC is not advocating for "free markets" and "limited government," but instead protecting corporate interests from any form of accountability to consumers or the public.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"[The ALEC tort reform bills] offer nothing for consumers and in fact, would do them great harm," Doroshow says. "And they create frameworks, easily amended by future lawmakers, that could result in even worse damage to the public."</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">View the full list of 2013 ALEC "tort reform" bills here.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">drum mojo: A similar dynamic fueled [11] the tort-reform push of the mid-'90s. This one was a twofer: Tort-lawyer bashing had always been a reliable applause line for Republican politicians, but in 1994 conservative ur-strategist Grover Norquist pointed out [12] that the big losers in tort reform are trial lawyers, and trial lawyers contribute huge amounts of money [13] to the Democratic Party. "The political implications of defunding the trial lawyers would be staggering," he wrote. After that, the tort-reform movement exploded.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You can think of this triumvirate—unions, minority redistricting, and tort reform—as Defunding 1.0. And most of it hasn't stopped: Republicans are still battling private-sector unions and pressing for tort reform. But private-sector unions have mostly been beaten, and tort reform has turned out to be a tough nut to crack. So the GOP has moved on to Defunding 2.0, with a brand new trio of pet projects.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">rove made hay w/ obscure unsexy tort reform; Ala dr got 4m$ from bmw b/c acid rain hurt paint; 23 cash cow and wedge issue; in 80's Tx sup ct dems and favored plaintiff; kr reversed; perry, simmons, harte, nau 25 44 tort bills; tort helped client Pmorris, so $ for b2</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Resolution Opposing Unfair and Unbalanced Insurance “Bad Faith” Legislation March 15, 2013</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Summary This resolution is responsive to efforts by the plaintiffs’ bar, represented by the Association of American Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) and its state-level affiliates, to enact legislation that undermines settled principles of contract law [...]</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">wlf plf: http://liberaldoomsayer.blogspot.com/2007/08/monkeying-around-with-wlf.html</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tuesday, August 28, 2007</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Monkeying Around" WIth The WLF</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While reading the editorial page of the New York Times yesterday, I came across this ad which I scanned for the purposes of this post.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As you can read, the headline states, “Lawyers seek ‘victims’ for class action lawsuits,” with two unidentified well-dressed men and a whole bunch of other individuals dressed as men and women with the heads of chimps superimposed on their bodies (sorry the size of the ad is so big), implying you-know-what about the plaintiffs in these suits.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This insulting garbage is brought to us courtesy of the Washington Legal Foundation, which, as noted here by SourceWatch, was established in 1977 by Chairman and General Counsel Daniel J. Popeo to "fight activist lawyers, regulators, and intrusive government agencies at the federal and state levels, in the courts and regulatory agencies across the country."</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This 1998 interview with Popeo noted that the WLF, at that time, had received about $3 million in contributions from about 500 companies, though the SourceWatch article notes that, between 1985 and 2003, the group has received about $7 million in funding on top of that.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Though Popeo, in the 1998 story, apparently did not like being associated with any coalition or funding source, SourceWatch states that the WLF “sought and obtained funding from Philip Morris and the now defunct Tobacco Institute.” As a result, the WLF has also repeatedly sued government agencies that oversee public health functions, like the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, who they sued over workplace smoking policies (decrying what it calls the “junk science” of “anti-tobacco zealots”).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The WLF went after the FDA because of what the group thought was delays in allowing drugs and medical devices to market, and to show the revolving door that exists between the WLF and Bushco, this post notes that Daniel E. Troy effectively landed on the WLF board after leaving Bushco’s FDA, doing his very best to hurt the agency from doing its job to ensure the safety of products under its purview (such as, in particular, Vioxx…as John Mack says, the WLF is to the First Amendment what the NRA is to the Second Amendment, with Troy as the Mike-Brown-FEMA equivalent).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Perhaps the WLF’s biggest infamy, though, is due to its attacks on Interest On Trial Lawyers Only (IOLTA) funding. As this link explains…</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(For New Jersey) The IOLTA Fund was created by Supreme Court Rule 1:28A, and operates under the auspices of the Court, with an independent Board of Trustees. A small administrative staff handles the day-to-day management of the IOLTA program.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Very often, the amount of money that a lawyer handles for a single client is nominal in amount, to be held for a short period of time, or is the result of multiple parties or clients deciding to pool advance payments against the costs of litigation in a single fund. It would not be feasible for attorneys to establish separate interest-bearing accounts for such clients, as the cost of administering the accounts, including the lawyer's time and the bank's charges, would be greater than the amount of interest that would be generated. The Supreme Court of New Jersey permits these client deposits to be pooled in common trust accounts which are interest-bearing to IOLTA. The income is forwarded to the Fund directly by the financial institution once the IOLTA Trust Account has been established.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The money collected by IOLTA is dedicated to providing legal representation and assistance to the poor, improvements in the administration of justice, and legal education to the public. The funds can be used for no other purposes.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As SourceWatch continues…</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The WLF began filing suits in a number of states to prevent IOLTA from receiving the interest on lawyer trust accounts. Among the suits was one pursued all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States with a potential recovery of $20. The reasoning behind this was outlined in a fundraising letter by the (Popeo):</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We are finally in a position we've fought more than a decade to reach...a position where we can deal a death blow to the single most important source of income for radical legal groups all across the country."</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Among the foundation's adversaries in the litigation, Popeo continues, are radical left-wing groups purporting to represent the interests of the homeless, minorities, and gay and lesbian activism. In that particular instance, the WFL spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to litigate a $20 case to the Supreme Court of the United States because doing so provided it an opportunity to "deal a death blow" to a program that was inconsistent with its principles.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I guess one of the WLF’s principles is that people who aren’t well-moneyed or well-connected should starve, be incapacitated somehow or wronged in some other fashion and receive absolutely nothing – typical Repug garbage, of course.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This link contains the most recent information I can find on the case heard before the Supremes, with the supposition being that they would reaffirm a lower court ruling that the IOLTA’s use of interest on client deposits (with the interest being donated to charity) did not constitute a “taking” in violation of the Fifth Amendment (Atrios has more here from 2003 on this, referencing some other posts linked above).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So, as far as Popeo is concerned, the WLF is ready to fight for any business against what it views as excessive governmental regulation, but it would deny that privilege in a heartbeat to anyone seeking a class-action remedy for a grievous wrong of one type or another?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This of course is typical for the WLF, which is but a tiny cog in the huge wheel of right-wing policy organizations that have operated to the detriment of the majority of this country for years and years by campaigns of misinformation and lawsuits.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At least they seemed to have failed in the IOLTA nonsense, though, since the Jersey link from which I took the earlier background information was dated in 2006. However, as Spencer Tracy so correctly stated in “Inherit The Wind,” “fanaticism and ignorance are forever busy, and need feeding” (proven by their ad yesterday).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The WLF should put that on the masthead of all of their correspondence.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Justice Denied: 71 ALEC Bills in 2013 Make It Harder to Hold Corporations Accountable for Causing Injury or Death</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">by Brendan Fischer [1] — July 10, 2013 - 7:31am</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Topics: Tort Reform [2], Corporations [3], Politics [4]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Projects: ALEC Exposed [5]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Share/Save Share this [6]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At least 71 bills introduced in 2013 that make it harder for average Americans to access the civil justice system resemble "models" from the American Legislative Exchange Council, or "ALEC," according to an analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy, publishers of ALECexposed.org [7].</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC Agenda Tips the Scales of Justice to Help Corporations Win</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC scales of justiceFor decades, ALEC has been a conduit for the oil, tobacco, and pharmaceutical industries to push legislation that changes the rules to limit accountability when a corporation's products or actions cause injury or death -- such as when a Koch Industries pipeline explodes and kills teenagers [8], or when the tobacco or pharmaceutical industries withhold evidence that their products are dangerous. In just the first six months of 2013, seventy-one ALEC bills that advance these "tort reform" goals have been introduced in thirty states (see chart below).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Each of these bills would weaken the legal rights of everyday people who are wrongfully harmed by a corporation or health care provider," says Joanne Doroshow, Executive Director of the Center for Justice & Democracy, a group that works to protect the civil justice system and fight tort reform. "[The bills] are carefully crafted to provide relief and protections for the industries who wrote them."</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A long-standing principle of American law gives a person injured (or whose family member is killed) by the fault of another the right to pursue justice and seek fair compensation in front of a judge and jury. An injury for which a person can sue is known as a "tort." Tort lawsuits are one of the few instances where an average American can stand on equal footing with a global corporation, make their case in front of a citizen jury, and demand justice. On a level playing field, consumers often win -- which is why corporate interests want to rig this centuries-old system to their benefit.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tort cases are relatively rare -- they make up only six percent of the entire civil court caseload, and are declining -- but they are effective. Tort liability is why U.S. companies have stopped selling dangerous cribs that strangle infants and children's pajamas that catch fire.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ALEC "tort reform" bills fundamentally alter the tort liability system by making it harder to bring a lawsuit or by limiting a jury's ability to award damages. The bills provide a way for ALEC corporations to escape responsibility for wrongdoing, help ALEC insurance companies limit payouts (and increase profits), and prevent Americans wrongfully injured or killed from receiving just compensation.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC Bills Limit Corporate Accountability, Change Liability Rules</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some ALEC bills limit how much a corporation might have to pay for causing injury.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ALEC "Noneconomic Damage Awards Act" (versions of which were introduced in five states in 2013) limits the amount a jury can award to compensate a person for their diminished quality of life as the result of an injury.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The misleadingly-named "Full and Fair Noneconomic Damages Act" (introduced in two states) limits the amount a corporation might have to pay to compensate a person for their pain and suffering.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The "Phantom Damages Elimination Act" (introduced in two states) changes the rules so a person who paid health insurance premiums for years would recover less for their medical bills than a person who had no insurance: rather than placing the full cost of paying for medical bills on the wrongdoer, the bill would reduce the amount they must pay if a person's insurance company negotiated a discount.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other ALEC bills change how liability is apportioned when more than one individual or corporation is at fault.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Three states introduced versions of the "Comparative Fault Act," which changes the rules so that "if a company is 49% responsible, they are completely off the hook," Doroshow says.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Two states introduced the misleadingly-named "Joint and Several Liability Act," which actually eliminates the Joint and Several rule that has worked for many years and protects victims in situations where it is difficult to pinpoint which defendant is at fault -- such as when multiple companies may have manufactured lead paint -- or where one of the defendants is insolvent. The bill eliminates the rule that had established that after a jury finds a defendant substantially responsible, they can be required to fully reimburse a person for their injury.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other ALEC "model legislation" would provide immunity for certain forms of lawsuits.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Five states introduced the "Emergency Care Immunity Act," which provides immunity to emergency personnel who provide assistance, without compensation, at the scene of an emergency. Providing some legal protections for volunteers in emergency situations may be important, but Doroshow suspects the bill is primarily advanced "for PR purposes" to promote the notion that the tort system is broken.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ten states introduced the "Trespasser Responsibility Act," which would largely absolve landowners from a responsibility to maintain safe premises, and tends to benefit large landowners like railroads, utility companies, and big agriculture. These large corporations would be absolved from their duty to act responsibly, and would be immune if a person accidentally wanders onto their property and are injured by poorly-maintained electrical boxes, dangerous chemicals or farm implements.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC Corporations Reap the Rewards</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Trespasser Responsibility Act was brought to ALEC [9] by Matt Fullenbaum of the American Tort Reform Association and Mark Behrens of Shook Hardy & Bacon, a law firm that has long represented tobacco companies and other industries seeking to avoid tort liability. Behrens is an "advisor" to the ALEC Civil Justice Task Force, as are other Shook Hardy & Bacon attorneys. The head of Shook Hardy & Bacon is Victor Schwartz, the so-called "undisputed king of tort reform [10]" who for many years has chaired the ALEC Civil Justice Task Force.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Others involved with the Civil Justice Task Force include a variety of corporate trade groups that have worked closely with Schwartz and his law firm, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business, as well as the American Insurance Industry and others.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Industries like the tobacco, insurance, oil and chemical industries are pretty detested," Doroshow says, "and trade groups provide a way for these corporations to hide behind a more neutral-sounding entity that will push their agenda. This makes it harder for the public to learn how these detested industries would benefit from tort reform."</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC's corporate members are a who's-who of companies that face tort liability. Its corporate board, recently renamed by ALEC as the "Private Enterprise Advisory Board [11]," includes representatives of fossil fuel interests (Koch Industries, Peabody Energy, Exxon Mobil, Energy Future Holdings), the pharmaceutical industry (PhRMA, Pfizer), and big tobacco (Altria, formally known as Phillip Morris). It also includes insurance companies like State Farm, which profits from a rigged tort liability system by paying out less in claims (even while raising premiums [12]).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Average Americans Pay the Price</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An increasingly major player in advancing the ALEC tort reform agenda is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its Institute for Legal Reform, both of which are members of the ALEC Civil Justice Task Force.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A big priority for the Chamber this year has been legislation narrowing access to the courts for asbestos victims. The ALEC "Asbestos Claims Transparency Act" was first adopted by members of the ALEC Civil Justice Task Force in 2007 and was introduced in four states in 2013, in many cases supported by testimony [13] from Shook Hardy & Bacon attorney Mark Behrens on behalf of the Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform. The effort would benefit corporations like Crown Holdings, a Fortune 500 company with over $8 billion in annual sales that has worked with ALEC for years to legislate its way out of compensating asbestos victims, as well as ALEC member Honeywell International, which has faced significant [14] asbestos liability in recent years.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asbestos-related diseases kill at least 10,000 Americans every year, in many cases from mesothelioma, an incurable and painful cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. For decades, asbestos was used for insulation and industrial purposes, and the diseases particularly affect veterans, firefighters, construction workers, and individuals who worked in factories with high-heat machinery.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asbestos company executives knew from at least the 1940s that asbestos was deadly but covered it up for half of a century. For example, an internal memo from a subsidiary of ALEC member Honeywell in 1966 stated [14], "if you have enjoyed a good life while working with asbestos products why not die from it?" The disease can take between 20 and 50 years to manifest, so individuals exposed decades earlier are only discovering the illness now.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Like the ALEC-supported voter ID laws that spread across the country in recent years, supporters of the Asbestos Claims Transparency Act claim the law is necessary to stop fraud -- despite no persuasive evidence of significant fraud or abuse. The law is couched in terms of "transparency," but is actually designed to save corporations money by delaying justice for asbestos victims and enacting unnecessary procedural hurdles for getting their day in court.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The bill could allow corporations like Crown Holdings or Honeywell to delay a lawsuit until a victim files claims with any other asbestos or personal injury "trust funds," which are accounts set up after a company goes bankrupt to pay claims to injured parties. This requirement, advocates say, is intended to drag out a case until after a sick victim dies -- an especially pointed concern given that asbestos cancer victims usually die within a year after being diagnosed.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In December of 2012, Ohio became the first state to pass the ALEC asbestos bill, which the Chamber publicly applauded: [15] "'As Ohio goes, so goes the nation,' and we hope this will result in a domino effect," said Lisa Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform. The Wall Street Journal editorial board -- which includes Stephen Moore, an ALEC "advisor" -- published [16] an editorial in support of the legislation.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Consumer and worker advocates expect more states to introduce versions of the Asbestos Claims Transparency Act in 2014. A parallel bill has been introduced on the federal level and recently passed the House Judiciary Committee (prompting a response [17] from the New York Times Editorial Board). Testimony presented to Congress from attorneys at Caplin & Drysdale has identified the ALEC [18] connection.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Tort Reform" Bills Contradict ALEC's Alleged Free Market Principles</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A robust tort liability system advances "free market" goals -- a principle ALEC claims to support -- by providing market pressures that provide a check on corporate misbehavior. The possibility of a lawsuit, and the associated financial liability, provides an economic incentive for manufacturers, hospitals, utility companies, and other corporations to be more safe and responsible [19], and it advances these goals without government regulation and enforcement.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By pushing these "tort reform" bills, ALEC is not advocating for "free markets" and "limited government," but instead protecting corporate interests from any form of accountability to consumers or the public.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"[The ALEC tort reform bills] offer nothing for consumers and in fact, would do them great harm," Doroshow says. "And they create frameworks, easily amended by future lawmakers, that could result in even worse damage to the public."</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">View the full list of 2013 ALEC "tort reform" bills here [20].</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC Tort Reform Bills, 2013 [20]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">State<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>ALEC Bill<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>State Bill</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IN<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Admissibility in Civil Actions of Nonuse of a Seat Belt Act [21]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 1010 [22]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Admissibility in Civil Actions of Nonuse of a Seat Belt Act [21]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 1696 [23]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NY<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Anti-Phishing Act [24]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>A 1117 [25]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Asbestos Claims Transparency Act [26]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 153 [27]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">LA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Asbestos Claims Transparency Act [26]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 481 [28]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OH<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Asbestos Claims Transparency Act [26]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 380 [29]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WI<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Asbestos Claims Transparency Act [26]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>AB 19 [30]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">UT<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Asset Forfeiture Process and Private Property Protection Act [31]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 384 [32]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AZ<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Class Actions Improvements Act [33]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 1452 [34]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Class Actions Improvements Act [33]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 949 [35]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NC<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Commonsense Consumption Act [36]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 683 [37]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RI<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Comparative Fault Act [38]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>H 5321 [39]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Comparative Fault Act [38]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 450 [40], HB 2843 [41]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Elimination of Double Recoveries Act [42]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 1134 [43]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Elimination of Double Recoveries Act [42]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 176 [44]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Emergency Care Immunity Act [45]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 62 [46]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Emergency Care Immunity Act [45]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>AB 132 [47]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NJ<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Emergency Care Immunity Act [45]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>A 3694 [48]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SC<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Emergency Care Immunity Act [45]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>H 4145 [49]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SD<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Emergency Care Immunity Act [45]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 1151 [50]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Emergency Care Immunity Act [45]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 2285 [51]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Forum Non Conveniens Act [52]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 113 [53]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">KS<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Full & Fair Noneconomic Damages Act [54]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 158 [55]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NH<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Full & Fair Noneconomic Damages Act [54]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 1180 [56]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Joint and Several Liability Act [57]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 1974 [58]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TN<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Joint and Several Liability Act [57]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 56 [59], HB 1099 [60]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Jury Patriotism Act [61]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 484 [62]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CT<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Noneconomic Damage Awards Act [63]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 452 [64]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MO<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Noneconomic Damage Awards Act [63]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HJR 6 [65]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NY<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Noneconomic Damage Awards Act [63]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>A 321 [66], A 5336 [67]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SC<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Noneconomic Damage Awards Act [63]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>S 625 [68]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Notice and Opportunity to Repair Act [69]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>S 617 [70]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Prejudgment and Post-Judgment Act [71]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 1494 [72]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RI<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Prejudgment and Post-Judgment Act [71]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 5289 [73]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Private Attorney Retention Sunshine Act [74]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 1494 [75]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Product Liability Act [76]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 617 [77]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Product Liability Act [76]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 5808 [78]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MO<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Product Liability Act [76]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 356 [79]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SC<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Punitive Damages Standards Act [80]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>S 788 [81]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Rational Use of a Product Act [82]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 754 [83]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Regulatory Compliance Congruity with Liability Act [84]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 5808 [78]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Reliability in Expert Testimony Standards Act [85]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 2221 [86]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Reliability in Expert Testimony Standards Act [85]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 113 [53]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Resolution in Support of Fair Recourse and Effective Deterrence Against Frivolous Claims [87]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 533 [88]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Ten-Year Statute of Repose Act [89]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 446 [90]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>The Common Sense Scientific and Technical Evidence Act [91]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 1412 [92], H 7015 [93]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TN<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>The Phantom Damages Elimination Act [94]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 1184 [95], HB 978 [96]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WI<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>The Phantom Damages Elimination Act [94]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 22 [97], AB 29 [98]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MO<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>The Uninsured Motorist Stipulation of Benefits Act [99]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 339 [100]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Trespasser Responsibility Act [101]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 125 [102], HB 270 [103]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Trespasser Responsibility Act [101]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 3407 [104], HB 2216 [105]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IN<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Trespasser Responsibility Act [101]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 1502 [106]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MS<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Trespasser Responsibility Act [101]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 2525 [107], HB 1302 [108]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NY<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Trespasser Responsibility Act [101]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>A 4824 [109]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SC<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Trespasser Responsibility Act [101]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 788 [81]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">UT<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Trespasser Responsibility Act [101]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 347 [110]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">VA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Trespasser Responsibility Act [101]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 2285 [111]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Trespasser Responsibility Act [101]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 338 [112], HB 2582 [113]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WY<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Trespasser Responsibility Act [101]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SF 70 [114]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Volunteer Immunity and Charitable Organization Liability Limit Act [115]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>HB 2285 [51]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>Workers' Compensation Fraud Warning Act [116]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span>SB 1062 [117]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Center for Media and Democracy • 520 University Avenue, Suite 260 • Madison, Wisconsin 53703 </font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Phone: 608-260-9713 • Fax: 608-260-9714</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Source URL: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/07/12172/justice-denied-71-alec-bills-2013-make-it-harder-hold-corporations-accountable-ca</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Links:</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[1] http://www.prwatch.org/users/35275/brendan-fischer</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[2] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/corporations/tort-reform</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[3] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/corporations</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[4] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/politics</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[5] http://www.prwatch.org/projects/alec-exposed</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[6] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2013%2F07%2F12172%2Fjustice-denied-71-alec-bills-2013-make-it-harder-hold-corporations-accountable-ca&linkname=Justice%20Denied%3A%2071%20ALEC%20Bills%20in%202013%20Make%20It%20Harder%20to%20Hold%20Corporations%20Accountable%20for%20Causing%20Injury%20or%20Death</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[7] http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[8] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-02/koch-brothers-flout-law-getting-richer-with-secret-iran-sales.html</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[9] http://www.commoncause.org/atf/cf/%7BFB3C17E2-CDD1-4DF6-92BE-BD4429893665%7D/civil_justice_35-day_mailing%20San%20Diego.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[10] http://books.google.com/books?id=y5qvyMHoQrgC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[11] http://www.alec.org/about-alec/private-enterprise-advisory-council/</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[12] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-tarricone/fool-me-once-the-insuranc_b_304594.html</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[13] http://www.shb.com/news_events_detail.aspx?id=1467</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[14] http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/18/business/honeywell-says-asbestos-verdict-was-more-than-it-had-disclosed.html</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[15] http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-chamber-applauds-passage-landmark-202800487.html</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[16] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324640104578161472087716126.html</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[17] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/opinion/one-sided-bill-on-asbestos-injuries.html?_r=0</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[18] http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/113th/03132013_3/Inselbuch%2003132013.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[19] http://centerjd.org/FAQ.php#_edn18</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[20] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC_2013_Bills</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[21] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/admissibility-in-civil-actions-of-nonuse-of-a-seat-belt-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[22] http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2013/PDF/FISCAL/HB1010.001.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[23] http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2013-14/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/1696.htm</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[24] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/anti-phishing-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[25] http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/A1117-2013</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[26] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/asbestos-claims-transparency-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[27] http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB0153&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=69135&DocNum=153&GAID=12&Session=&print=true</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[28] http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=835094</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[29] http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=129_HB_380</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[30] https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2013/proposals/ab19</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[31] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/asset-forfeiture-process-and-private-property-protection-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[32] http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/hbillenr/hb0384.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[33] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/class-actions-improvements-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[34] http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/51leg/1r/bills/sb1452s.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[35] http://openstates.org/ok/bills/2013-2014/SB949/documents/OKD00013929</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[36] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/commonsense-consumption-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[37] http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2013/Bills/House/HTML/H683v1.html</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[38] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/comparative-fault-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[39] http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText13/HouseText13/H5321.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[40] http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb450%20intr.htm&yr=2013&sesstype=RS&i=450</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[41] http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb2843%20intr.htm&yr=2013&sesstype=RS&i=2843</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[42] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/elimination-of-double-recoveries-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[43] http://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/1134/BillText/Filed/HTML</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[44] http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb176%20intr.htm&yr=2013&sesstype=RS&i=176</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[45] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/emergency-care-immunity-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[46] http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/searchableinstruments/2013rs/PrintFiles/SB62-int.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[47] http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/77th2013/Bills/AB/AB132.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[48] http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2012/Bills/A4000/3694_I1.HTM</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[49] http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess120_2013-2014/prever/4145_20130516.htm</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[50] http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2013/Bill.aspx?File=HB1151ENR.htm</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[51] http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb2285%20intr.htm&yr=2013&sesstype=RS&i=2285</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[52] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/forum-non-conveniens-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[53] http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb113%20intr.htm&yr=2013&sesstype=RS&i=113</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[54] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/full-fair-noneconomic-damages-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[55] http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2012/b2011_12/measures/documents/sb158_00_0000.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[56] http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2012/HB1180.html</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[57] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/joint-and-several-liability-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[58] http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09700SB1974&GA=97&SessionId=84&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=58116&DocNum=1974&GAID=11&Session=&print=true</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[59] http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/108/Bill/SB0056.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[60] http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/108/Bill/HB1099.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[61] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/jury-patriotism-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[62] http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20ENR/SB/SB484%20ENR.PDF</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[63] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/noneconomic-damage-awards-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[64] http://openstates.org/ct/bills/2013/SB452/documents/CTD00011667</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[65] http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills131/biltxt/intro/HJR0006I.htm</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[66] http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/A321-2013</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[67] http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/A5336-2013</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[68] http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess120_2013-2014/prever/625_20130416.htm</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[69] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/notice-and-opportunity-to-repair-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[70] https://malegislature.gov/Bills/BillHtml/127551?generalCourtId=11</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[71] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/prejudgment-and-post-judgment-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[72] http://openstates.org/ok/bills/2013-2014/SB1080/documents/OKD00014023</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[73] http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText13/HouseText13/H5289.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[74] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/private-attorney-retention-sunshine-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[75] http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20INT/hB/HB1494%20INT.PDF</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[76] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/product-liability-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[77] http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/searchableinstruments/2013rs/PrintFiles/HB617-int.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[78] http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09700HB5808&GA=97&SessionId=84&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=66298&DocNum=5808&GAID=11&Session=&print=true</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[79] http://www.senate.mo.gov/13info/pdf-bill/intro/SB356.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[80] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/punitive-damages-standards-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[81] http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess120_2013-2014/prever/788_20130606.htm</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[82] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/rational-use-of-a-product-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[83] http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20ENGR/SB/SB754%20ENGR.PDF</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[84] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/regulatory-compliance-congruity-with-liability-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[85] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/reliability-in-expert-testimony-standards-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[86] http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB2221&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=73511&DocNum=2221&GAID=12&Session=&print=true</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[87] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/resolution-in-support-of-fair-recourse-and-effective-deterrence-against-frivolous-claims</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[88] http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20INT/SB/SB533%20INT.PDF</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[89] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/ten-year-statute-of-repose-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[90] http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?syear=2013&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=446</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[91] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/the-common-sense-scientific-and-technical-evidence-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[92] http://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/1412/BillText/c1/HTML</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[93] http://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/7015/BillText/er/PDF</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[94] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/the-phantom-damages-elimination-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[95] http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/108/Bill/SB1184.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[96] http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/108/Bill/HB0978.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[97] http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2013/proposals/sb22</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[98] http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2013/proposals/ab29</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[99] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/the-uninsured-motorist-stipulation-of-benefits-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[100] http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills131/biltxt/perf/HB0339P.htm</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[101] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/trespasser-responsibility-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[102] http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20132014/130178.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[103] http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20132014/130242.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[104] http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB3407&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=75276&DocNum=3407&GAID=12&Session=&print=true</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[105] http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800HB2216&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=73506&DocNum=2216&GAID=12&Session=&print=true</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[106] http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2013/PDF/IN/IN1502.1.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[107] http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2013/html/SB/2500-2599/SB2525IN.htm</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[108] http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2013/html/HB/1300-1399/HB1302PS.htm</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[109] http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/A4824-2013</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[110] http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/hbillenr/hb0347.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[111] http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?131+ful+CHAP0217</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[112] http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb338%20intr.htm&yr=2013&sesstype=RS&i=338</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[113] http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb2582%20intr.htm&yr=2013&sesstype=RS&i=2582</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[114] http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2013/Engross/SF0070.pdf</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[115] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/volunteer-immunity-and-charitable-organization-liability-limit-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[116] http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/workers-compensation-fraud-warning-act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[117] http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2013-14%20ENR/SB/SB1062%20ENR.PDF</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">rfk2: b2 </font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1/04 conf folowed gop fundraiser at Az Biltomore; solicited changes to ESA, Nat</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Env Pol Act, CAA, access to publ land, tort reform organized by coal lobby/DC task</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">force spkesman Jim Sims 129 connaught and griles there</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">monsanto protection (against lawsuits?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">gangs of america:</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tort Reform: Part of the “Contract with America” that fueled</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the Gingrich Revolution of 1994, in which Republicans gained</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">a majority of the House of Representatives, was “tort reform.”</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Proponents of tort reform denounced the prevalence of frivolous</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> lawsuits and passed legislation making it much more difficult</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">for investors and others to sue corporations and their accounting</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">firms. In 1995, Congress passed (over President</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clinton’s veto) the Private Securities Legislative Reform Act</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">limiting the rights of investors to sue management. It also</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">shielded accounting firms from being charged with aiding and</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">abetting fraudulent activities. The result was a slack environment</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">with little fear of lawsuits.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---===</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">J&J Shook, Hardy and Bacon</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shook, Hardy and Bacon (SHB) is a law firm based in Kansas City, Missouri. It also has offices in Geneva, Houston, London, Miami, Orange County, CA, San Francisco, Tampa and Washington D.C. For decades, the firm has represented the nation’s largest tobacco companies.[1]</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Legislative Exchange Council and “Tort Reform”</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shook, Hardy and Bacon has long been tied to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Its partners have served on the Civil Justice Task Force and have been at the forefront of the "tort reform" movement.</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">About ALEC</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC is corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. ALEC legislative leaders are tasked with a duty to get the bills introduced and passed; ALEC members introduce the bills in statehouses as their own brilliant ideas—without disclosing that corporations pre-voted on them with politicians behind closed doors at ALEC resort meetings. ALEC boasts that it has over 1,000 of these bills introduced by legislative members every year, and more than 20% become legally binding. ALEC describes itself as a “unique,” “unparalleled” and “unmatched” organization. It might be right. It is as if a state legislature had been reconstituted, yet corporations had pushed the people out the door. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A partner at the Shook, Hardy & Bacon Washington D.C. offices and a chair of the law firm's Public Policy Group, Victor Schwartz, sits on the ALEC Board of Scholars.[2] He is a long-time co-chair of ALEC’s Civil Justice Task Force, as of 2011. [3] Schwartz has been called the "undisputed king of tort reform" (an issue promoted in ALEC model bills that are approved by the Civil Justice Task Force).[4] He also is affiliated with the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) and the Washington Legal Foundation. In 2007, Schwartz was called one of Washington, D.C.'s 50 top lobbyists.[5]</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mark Behrens, also an SHB partner, ias an Advisor to ALEC's Civil Justice Task Force as of 2011.[6] Another partner, Phil Goldberg, is also an Advisor to ALEC's Civil Justice Task Force as of 2011.[7]</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shook, Hardy and Bacon clients and ALEC priorities</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the American Association for Justice, Shook, Hardy and Bacon has:</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“played a pivotal role in the tobacco industry’s campaign to ward off litigation over smoking-related illnesses. In one memorable memo, the law firm’s attorneys advised Phillip Morris to stop testing the effects of nicotine, saying “the performing and publishing of nicotine related research clearly seems ill-advised from a litigation point of view. Not coincidentally, ALEC was heavily involved in the tobacco fight, pushing for restrictions on tobacco litigation and attacking pension funds that dared to divest in tobacco companies, while being compensated to the tune of $200,000 for its work. Similarly, when Shook, Hardy and bacon began representing the pharmaceutical industry, ALEC was suddenly every drug manufacturer’s best friend.”[8]</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SHB Lobbying and ALEC</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2009, Shook, Hardy and Bacon attorneys Mark Behrens and Corey Schaecher traveled to North Dakota to speak with legislators and their staff about ALEC’s asbestos bill, the Innocent Successor Liability Act, without registering as lobbyists. After days of interacting with elected officials, the “North Decoder” blog revealed their lobbying activities on January 23, 2009; within hours, ALEC submitted letters of authorization permitting Behrens and Schaecher to lobby on their behalf, the same day the corporation most likely to benefit from the legislation, Crown, Cork, and Seal, also registered the two as lobbyists. According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, this is the only instance in which ALEC has ever registered to lobby in any state.[9]</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As a 501(c)(3), ALEC is not permitted to participate in lobbying activities. In its 2009 IRS Form 990, in response to the question “Did the organization participate in lobbying activities” (page 3 question 4), ALEC replied “no.”[10][11]</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clients</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clients of Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP have included, but are not limited to:</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Philip Morris, now Altria Group (also involved in ALEC)[12]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Eli Lily and Company[13]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Amgen[13]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bristol-Myers Squibb[13]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GlaxoSmithKline (also involved in ALEC)[13]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sanofi-Aventis[13]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Guidant and Wyeth[13]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sprint Nextel[14] and</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Microsoft[15]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sony[16]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hewlett-Packard[17]</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As of May 2010, clients included:</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Home Products Corporation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Applebee’s International, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bank of America, N.A.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Barkley Evergreen & Partners, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Big Twelve Athletic Conference</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">British-American Tobacco Company, Ltd.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Business Men’s Assurance Company of America</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Capstar Broadcasting Corporation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cargill, Inc.; Conoco Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Crititech, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Deutsche Financial Services Corporation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dodson Group</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">E.I du Pont de Nemours and Company</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Electric Energy, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Eli Lilly and Company</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Farmland Industries, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Farmland Insurance Company</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Farmland National Beef Packing, L.P.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">First Union Corporation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ford Motor Company</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fort Dodge Laboratories</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">G.D. Searle & Company</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GTE Corporation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Helzberg Diamonds</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">HNTB Corporation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Interstate Bakeries Corporation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IPC International Corporation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kansas City Royals Baseball Corporation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kraft Foods, Inc. (also involved in ALEC)</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">La Petite Academy, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lorillard Tobacco Company</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Metricom, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Miller Brewing Company</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Motorola, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nucentrix Broadband Networks, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Orion Refi ning Corporation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pharmacia Corp.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Philip Morris Companies Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Phillips Petroleum Company</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PJM Interconnection L.L.C.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ProQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sanofi -Synthelabo Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Seaboard Corporation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sears</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Roebuck and Co.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Smith & Wesson Corporation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">St. John’s Health System, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tamko Roofi ng Products, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Oz Entertainment Company</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tomkins Industries, Inc.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">UMB Bank, N.A.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Union Pacific Railroad Company</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Vulcan Materials Company</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Warner-Lambert Company</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories Inc.[18]</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Political Contributions and Lobbying</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Open Secrets reports that in 2010, Shook, Hardy & Bacon's PAC gave $5,400 to Republicans and $500 to Democrats.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Personnel</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">David Kincaid Hardy</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">William L. Allinder</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">John F. Murphy - Chair</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gene E. Voigts - Vice Chair</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Alicia J. Donahue - Managing Partner</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Michelle R. Mangrum - Managing Partner</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Daniel F. Molony - Managing Partner</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Frank C. Rothrock - Managing Partner</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Samuel B. Sebree II - Managing Partner</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">James Shepherd - Managing Partner</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lea A. Souza-Rasile - Managing Partner</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contact Details</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Website: http://www.shb.com</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Articles and resources</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Related SourceWatch articles</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tobacco industry</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">External Articles</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Philip Morris ETS Billing Categories -- Summary", December 1, 1990. Bates No: 2023590213-2023590299. This Philip Morris document is a bill from its law firm Shook, Hardy and Bacon of Kansas City. Lawyers describe by name "developed witnesses", or scientists willing to testify publicly on each topic affecting the company (87 pages total, scroll down).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">References</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? See, e.g., Shook, Hardy and Bacon LLP, Comments on Testimony of Dora Anne Mills, MD, MPH, Director, Maine Bureau of Health, document in Tobacco Library, March 12, 1999</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP Victor E. Schwartz, lawfirm biography, accessed June 6, 2011</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? American Legislative Exchange Council, Civil Justice Task Force, organization website, accessed May 26, 2011</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? Terry Carter Piecemeal Tort Reform, ABA Journal, December 2001</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? Kim Eisler Hired Guns: The City's 50 Top Lobbyists, Washingtonian, June 1, 2007</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? American Legislative Exchange Council, Inside ALEC Jan. 2011, organizational newsletter, January 2011</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? American Legislative Exchange Council Inside ALEC Feb. 2011, organization newsletter, February 2011</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? American Association for Justice Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America, May, 2010</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? National Institute on Money in State Politics, ALEC Lobbyist Client Results, accessed July 4, 2011.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? ALEC Lied on its 2009 Tax Return, Northdecoder.com blog, Mar 28, 2011, accessed July 7, 2011.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? American Legislative Exchange Council, 2009 Form 990, Internal Revenue Service filing, July 15, 2010</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP Philip Morris ETS Billing Categories, lawfirm report, December 1990</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 Mark Hansen Shook Hardy Smokes ‘Em, ABA Journal, October 1, 2008</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? Bloomberg News Vonage Infringed 6 Patents of Sprint, U.S. Jury Rules, New York Times, September 26, 2007</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? Steve Vockrodt Microsoft uploads Shook Hardy & Bacon to its law firm short list, Kansas City Business Journal, July 9, 2009</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP, "Eric A. Buresh, Partner, law firm biography, accessed June 25, 2011</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? David Yates, "HP lawyers take class certification question to appeals court," The Southeast Texas Record, September 25, 2007</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">? American Association for Justice ALEC: Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America, issue report, May 2010</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PhRMA's Investment Pays Off in Wisconsin</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Legislation introduced in Wisconsin during the year following PhRMA's contribution suggests the investment in "scholarships" paid dividends.</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of Governor Walker's first actions upon taking office was to push a package of tort reform measures lifted from the ALEC playbook. So-called "tort reform" bills benefit drug companies and other major corporations by making it harder for Americans to sue companies whose products or services result in injury or death. PhRMA has long supported "tort reform" and used ALEC to push it.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Wisconsin Act 2 was the first bill Walker signed into law on January 27, 2011. As the January 2011 "special session" of the Wisconsin legislature began, ALEC sent an issue alert to Wisconsin's ALEC politicans stating the organization "supports this legislation which contains numerous provisions that reflect ALEC's civil justice reform policy and model legislation." Act 2 adopted a variety of ALEC models, including the ALEC "Constitutional Guidelines for Punitive Damages Act", limiting the ability to hold corporations accountable for causing injury or death, and the ALEC "Product Liability Act", making it easier for corporations like drugmakers to escape liability for manufacturing dangerous products or products with insufficient warnings about hazards. Passage of the bill was promptly lauded by ALEC in a press release, where they "commended newly-elected Gov. Walker and the new Wisconsin legislature for their leadership in responding quickly to their mandate to restore business confidence and for making tort reform one of their top priorities to achieve this goal." </font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In October 2011, Wisconsin GOP legislators introduced LRB 2890, a version of the ALEC "Drug Liability Act." The bill gives drug and medical device manufacturers complete immunity from lawsuits based on strict liability if the product was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and complied with FDA regulations (see the side-by-side comparison here). Lawsuits might be unnecessary if there were limitless funds for independent clinical trials and if the FDA approval process worked perfectly to weed out dangerous products. But it does not. Numerous drugs have been approved by the FDA only to be recalled after people died or were seriously injured. PhRMA and its members lobbied on this bill.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lack of Transparency Keeps Public in Dark...</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.prwatch.org/node/11342</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://sciencecorruption.com/ATN165/00391.html</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A coalition of poisoning & polluting industries had joined forces to fight against potential damages claims in product liability suits — especially punative damages — which could be in the multi-million dollar region for companies who had not taken care of their customers's health. They also wanted to limit the ability of plaintiffs to file class action suits since individual damage claims could always be won by litigation exhaustion (the corporation with the most money to pay lawyers always wins).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This corporate-lobbying movement became known as the "tort reform" program, and it was led by the National Manufacturer's Association which ran the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) . There was also a more political group known as the Product Liability Coordination Committee (PLCC) which was backed by the Business RoundTable. The PLCC later became known as the TPLA (The Product Liability Alliance) and it was run by a Cromwell & Moring lawyer, Victor Schwartz, who worked closely with ATRA.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Also involved in product liability/tort-reform lobbying was the Manhattan Institute , founded by ex-CIA director William Casey, which, in 1986, had created the Project on Civil Justice Reform targeted specifically at journalists. It was funded initially by insurance companies, but the tobacco and other industries gave generously also.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Margery Kraus, a freelance lobbyist/PR who was involved with the CloseUp Foundation and did some work for RJ Reynolds was hired in to front APCO, and the new organisation successfully promoted itself as a genuine Washington public relations company. [Later she was award a Business Woman of the Year medal for 'founding' the company!] Initially, however, APCO was entirely under the control of Philip Morris and run by key US science-corruption executives, Ellen Merlo, Tom Borelli and Steve Parrish.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 1992, ATRA's tort-reform efforts were suffering from internal disputes between the various corporations and trade-umbrella organisations. So Neal Cohen, a sports-writer, was hired in to take control of the tort-reform project for Phillip Morris, and not long after he took virtual control of ATRA itself. He revitalised the organisation (if a real organisation ever actually existed) by setting up numerous state-based astroturfs (run by local PR companies), which became known by the generic term CALAs ( Citizens Against Legal Abuse ).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These CALAs then lobbied their state governments to reduce product liability (especially punative) penalties, restrict the ability of consumers to utilise class-actions, and, in some States, to exclude tobacco-caused injuries from the State tort laws.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">crypto:</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">anti-sourcewatch</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2/15/12 i note that 1st sourcewatch google result (paid) is watchdog, atrazine</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.judicialhellholes.org/2012/01/31/sourcewatch-exposedwebsite-backed-by-organic-food-industry-scrambles-to-take-down-court-documents-after-being-caught-in-the-act/?gclid=CN38sPXQoK4CFQF3hwodjWSy5Q</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">claims sw is pullling docs, tho talk pages?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The American Tort Reform Foundation (ATRF) is a District of Columbia nonprofit corporation, founded in 1997. The primary purpose of the Foundation is to educate the general public about how the American civil justice system operates; the role of tort law in the civil justice system; and the impact of tort law on the private, public and business sectors of society.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.atra.org/</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span></font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sherman Joyce</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">President</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">sjoyce@atra.org</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Graduate of Princeton University and Catholic University Law School, he served as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator John C. Danforth until 1984. In 1987, after being admitted to the Virginia Bar, he became minority counsel to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, where he worked on product liability legislation. Mr. Joyce assumed his current position in August 1994.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span></font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Darren McKinney</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Director of Communications</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">dmckinney@atra.org</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He joins ATRA after five years with the National Association of Manufacturers. As a former award-winning television journalist with a Georgetown University M.A. in American government and public policy, Darren has also worked in key communications positions for two members of Congress and the Treasury Department.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span></font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Matt Fullenbaum</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Director of Legislation</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mfullenbaum@atra.org</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Matt comes to ATRA from the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) where he served as membership manager. Prior to joining IANA, he held positions in the economics and membership departments at the International Dairy Foods Association.[corp personhood court case?0 Matt earned a bachelor of arts degree from The George Washington University.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style=" white-space: pre;"> </span></font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gretchen S. Post</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Executive Assistant and Office Manager</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">gpost@atra.org</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gretchen joined the ATRA team in June 2003 bringing 26 years of Capitol Hill experience with her. She comes to ATRA from the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">nolo:</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A toxic tort is a legal claim for harm caused by exposure to a dangerous substance -- such as a pharmaceutical drug, pesticide, or chemical. While advances in technology, manufacturing, and medicine have introduced thousands of new products into our daily lives, some of those products -- and the substances they contain -- can cause serious illnesses in humans. Sometimes chemicals which are thought to be safe turn out to be otherwise. Other times, substances known to be dangerous accidentally leak into the air or groundwater. Along with these new chemicals and drugs have come lawsuits -- called toxic tort litigation -- brought on behalf of individuals or groups of people who have been exposed to and harmed by dangerous substances.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This article discusses the basic law underlying toxic torts -- what plaintiffs must prove in order to prevail, situations in which most toxic tort cases arise, who to sue, special issues in toxic tort claims, and what types of damages are available to plaintiffs.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Toxic Tort Claims and Defenses</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a toxic tort claim, the plaintiff (the person who sues) alleges that exposure to some dangerous substance caused an injury or illness. These claims are often brought on behalf of a group of people, in what is called a class action lawsuit. One example of a class action lawsuit is when a group of workers alleges exposure to asbestos while on the job. Another class action may arise when residents of a neighborhood allege that local groundwater has become contaminated by a pesticide. While class actions are common, a single individual may also bring a toxic tort lawsuit.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Toxic tort claims usually arise in the following contexts:</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Occupational exposure - when industrial workers are exposed to toxins, at high levels for a short period of time or at lower levels over an extended period. Examples of this type of toxic tort litigation include lawsuits based on workers' exposure to asbestos and benzene on the job. (To learn more about asbestos and benzene litigation, see Nolo's articles Mesothelioma and Asbestos: An Overview and Benzene Exposure, Health Risks & Litigation.)</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pharmaceutical drugs - when pharmaceutical drugs cause unintended side-effects. Drugs that have been the subject of toxic tort litigation include the antidepressants Zoloft and Prozac. (To learn more about claims against pharmaceutical drug companies, see Nolo's article Product Liability Claims Involving Pharmaceutical Drugs.)</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Exposure in the home - when people breathe or ingest substances in their home, such as toxic mold. (To learn more about mold exposure, see Nolo's article Toxic Mold Basics.)</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Consumer products - when people use products, such as pesticides, that cause unintended illness.</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The specific elements that a plaintiff must prove in a toxic tort case vary depending on the legal theories involved, but generally the plaintiff must show that 1) the substance was dangerous, 2) the plaintiff was exposed to the substance, and 3) the substance caused harm to the plaintiff. (To learn about the different theories of liability in toxic tort cases, see Nolo's article Toxic Torts: Legal Theories of Liability.)</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Defendants in toxic tort cases often mount a vigorous defense. They can poke holes in a plaintiff's case or present evidence that the plaintiff has not proved all of the necessary elements of their claims. Defendants can also present more procedure-based defenses. For example, a defendant might try to prove that a plaintiff did not bring their toxic tort lawsuit in a timely manner under the applicable statute of limitations laws. (To learn about the defenses available to defendants in toxic tort cases, see Nolo's article Toxic Tort Litigation: Common Defenses.)</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Special Issues in Toxic Tort Cases</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although each toxic tort case is unique -- depending on the toxin involved, the way plaintiffs were exposed, and the alleged resulting illness -- there are some common issues that crop up in many toxic tort cases.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Proving Causation</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The battleground in most toxic tort cases is causation. There are several reasons for this. In many cases it is difficult to trace the source of the chemical or substance that caused the injury. Also, many illnesses caused by exposure to toxins don't manifest until years after the exposure. Plaintiffs must weed out intervening factors( such as exposure to other chemicals) in proving the key element of their case: that it was the specific chemical manufactured or distributed by the defendant that caused the plaintiff's illness.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Stale Evidence</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When a lawsuit is brought years after the initial exposure to the chemical at issue, evidence may be hard to come by. Documents related to the original exposure may no longer be around, witnesses can be hard to track down, and memories may become fuzzy over time.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">reliance on Scientific Evidence</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Toxic tort lawsuits are hugely dependant on science. Studies linking substances to certain diseases or health conditions can make or break a case. Changing scientific developments can instantly change the legal landscape. For example, lawsuits alleging that a certain workplace chemical caused cancer could fail for years, but if a single study linking the chemical to cancer emerges, plaintiffs in the same type of lawsuit may begin winning large damage awards.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Who to Sue in Toxic Tort Cases</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Figuring out who to sue in toxic tort cases is another tricky problem. Plaintiffs often don't know who manufactured a dangerous product. For example, suppose a patient is taking a drug that is manufactured by several different pharmaceutical companies. If the patient develops cancer years later, it may be difficult to determine which company manufactured the particular drug the patient took. Similarly, residents who live in an industrial area might allege a link between their health problems and airborne contaminants in the area, but the residents may not know which local factory is actually responsible for the release of those contaminants.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As a rule, plaintiffs usually sue anyone and everyone that could have any possible link to the dangerous substance. This may include:</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">manufacturers and distributors of chemicals</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">manufacturers and distributors of machines or devices that expose workers to chemicals</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">owners and lessors of premises where the plaintiff was exposed to toxic chemicals</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">manufacturers of equipment that failed to keep the plaintiff safe from chemicals, or</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">companies that stored the chemicals.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The types of damages available to plaintiffs in toxic tort cases might include compensatory damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, and attorneys fees.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Compensatory Damages</font></div>
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</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These are the damages that reimburse the plaintiff for the cost of injuries or for any money spent as a result of the injuries. Compensatory damages include medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, compensation for pain and suffering, and loss of consortium (companionship). (To learn more about compensatory damages, see Nolo's article Damages in Defective Products Cases.)</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Plaintiffs can also seek a type of damages unique to toxic tort cases -- compensation for medical monitoring. In medical monitoring, plaintiffs (usually in a class action lawsuit) exposed to a toxin are screened periodically in order to detect and provide early treatment for medical problems linked to the toxin. Courts are split as to whether medical monitoring damages can be awarded to people who show no sign of illness, or are limited to people who already exhibit symptoms of the disease. Either way, medical monitoring damages are set up in one of two ways: through a fund that plaintiffs can dip into as costs arise, or as a lump-sum payment intended to cover any future medical monitoring costs.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Punitive Damages</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The purpose of punitive damages is to punish the defendant. These damages are generally only available in toxic tort cases if the defendant's conduct was especially egregious or outrageous.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Injunctive Relief</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Plaintiffs in toxic tort cases may be able to get an injunction, which is an order prohibiting the defendant from taking certain actions (the marketing of a harmful product, for example).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Attorneys' Fees</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In most lawsuits, each side pays its own attorneys' fees. However, some statutes specifically state that a defendant must pay a plaintiff's attorneys' fees in certain situations. For example, in the realm of toxic torts, many environmental cleanup statutes allow plaintiffs to recover their attorneys' fees from defendants.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Getting Help</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Claims involving toxic torts are usually not the kind of lawsuits in which you can represent yourself effectively. The legal and scientific issues in such cases are often complex and sophisticated. Depending on your case, you may wish to retain the services of a lawyer who specializes in toxic tort litigation or the precise toxin at issue.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You may also want to consult with a lawyer to find out if there is an existing class action lawsuit regarding the specific chemical or drug that concerns you, and if so, whether it is advisable for you to join that class action. (If there is an existing class action, consider contacting the lawyers for the class directly; they will likely be very interested in talking with you.) Such initial consultations are usually free of charge.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For help in choosing a good personal injury attorney, read Nolo's article Finding a Personal Injury Lawyer. Go to Nolo's Lawyer Directory for a list of personal injury attorneys in your geographical area (click on the "Types of Cases" and "Work History" tabs to find out about the lawyer's experience, if any, with toxic tort litigation).</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">by: Kathleen Michon, J.D.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ugust 18, 2012</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lawyers From Suits Against Big Tobacco Target Food Makers</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By STEPHANIE STROM</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Don Barrett, a Mississippi lawyer, took in hundreds of millions of dollars a decade ago after suing Big Tobacco and winning record settlements from R. J. Reynolds, Philip Morris and other cigarette makers. So did Walter Umphrey, Dewitt M. Lovelace and Stuart and Carol Nelkin.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ever since, the lawyers have been searching for big paydays in business, scoring more modest wins against car companies, drug makers, brokerage firms and insurers. Now, they have found the next target: food manufacturers.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More than a dozen lawyers who took on the tobacco companies have filed 25 cases against industry players like ConAgra Foods, PepsiCo, Heinz, General Mills and Chobani that stock pantry shelves and refrigerators across America.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The suits, filed over the last four months, assert that food makers are misleading consumers and violating federal regulations by wrongly labeling products and ingredients. While there has been a barrage of litigation against the industry in recent years, the tobacco lawyers are moving particularly aggressively. They are asking a federal court in California to halt ConAgra’s sales of Pam cooking spray, Swiss Miss cocoa products and some Hunt’s canned tomatoes.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It’s a crime — and that makes it a crime to sell it,” said Mr. Barrett, citing what he contends is the mislabeling of those products. “That means these products should be taken off the shelves.”</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The food companies counter that the suits are without merit, another example of litigation gone wild and driven largely by the lawyers’ financial motivations. Mr. Barrett said his group could seek damages amounting to four years of sales of mislabeled products — which could total many billions of dollars.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It’s difficult to take some of these claims seriously, for instance, that a consumer was deceived into believing that a chocolate hazelnut spread for bread was healthy for children,” said Kristen E. Polovoy, an industry lawyer at Montgomery McCracken, referring to a lawsuit that two mothers brought against the maker of Nutella. “I think the courts are starting to look at the implausibility of some of these suits.”</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A federal judge in California in 2009 dismissed a case against PepsiCo, which accused the company of false advertising because Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries cereal does not contain real berries. He ruled that “a reasonable consumer would not be deceived into believing that the product in the instant case contained a fruit that does not exist.”</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> While the lawyers are being questioned about their motives, they are not alone in pursuing the food industry.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In recent weeks, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has sued General Mills and McNeil Nutritionals over their claims on Nature Valley and Splenda Essentials products, and warned Welch’s it would sue unless the company changed the wording on its juice and fruit snacks. The Federal Trade Commission won settlements from companies like Dannon and Pom Wonderful for claims about their products’ health benefits. And PepsiCo and Coca-Cola face lawsuits over claims that their orange juice products are “100% natural.”</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The latest playbook — like the one that paid off in the wave of tobacco litigation — could prove potent, as the food companies’ own lawyers have warned.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other plaintiffs’ lawyers have largely taken aim at food products marketed as “healthy” or “natural,” subjective claims that can be easily disputed by expert witnesses. Unlike foods labeled “organic,” there are no federal standards for foods that are called “healthy” or “natural.”</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The new batch of litigation argues that food companies are violating specific rules about ingredients and labels. Mr. Barrett’s group, for example, has brought a case against Chobani, the Greek yogurt maker, for listing “evaporated cane juice,” as an ingredient in its pomegranate-flavored yogurt. The Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly warned companies not to use the term because it is “false and misleading,” according to the suit.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“If you’re going to put sugar in your yogurt, why not just say it’s sugar?” said Pierce Gore, a lawyer affiliated with Mr. Barrett’s group.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Food companies dispute the accusations, defending their packaging and marketing. Nicki Briggs, a spokeswoman for Chobani, said the lawsuit was “frivolous” and “without merit.”</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even so, such cases are raising concerns within the industry.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At a recent food and beverage conference attended by more than 100 lawyers, Madeleine M. McDonough, a lawyer at Shook, Hardy & Bacon who is co-chairwoman of the agribusiness and food safety practice, warned in a session on fraud litigation that it was imperative for companies to comply with federal regulation. “Otherwise, we are dead in the water,” she said, according to two lawyers present, including J. Price Coleman, who is working with Mr. Barrett’s group.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If the lawsuits prove successful, the liability could be sizable. The lawyers are looking to base damages on products’ sales. While companies do not typically break out figures for individual items, Chobani’s revenues are expected to total $1.5 billion this year. The lawsuit filed by Mr. Barrett cites 18 flavors of yogurt, more than half its line.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The lawyers are being selective about where these suits are filed. Most have been filed in California, where consumer protection laws tend to favor plaintiffs. Food companies are already fighting a legal battle there, spending tens of millions of dollars to stop a ballot initiative that would require them to specify genetically modified ingredients.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The lawyers who took on Big Tobacco decided the time was ripe to go after Big Food. Consumers are increasingly conscious of their eating habits as rates of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity and other health problems rise. State and local governments are also becoming alarmed at the escalating costs of caring for people with those diseases and are putting pressure on food companies.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“People want to put good, healthy, nutritious food in their bodies,” said Keith M. Fleischman, a former federal and state prosecutor who is now working with the tobacco lawyers group. “They are very aware of what’s on labels.”</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Plaintiffs’ lawyers realize that critics may counter that their lawsuits do not have real victims.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mr. Barrett fought tobacco cases for years on behalf of smokers dying of cancer — and lost because juries agreed with the tobacco companies that smoking was a personal choice. Not until he and Richard Scruggs sued on behalf of states, which had spent hundreds of millions of dollars caring for sick smokers, did they win their record settlement.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Food companies will argue that these are harmless crimes — the tobacco companies said the same thing,” Mr. Barrett said. “But to diabetics and some other people, sugar is just as deadly as poison.”</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Consumers like Christine Sturges, one of the plaintiffs in a suit against ConAgra, has gluten allergies and reads labels vigilantly.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When she heard about a lawsuit involving the Pam cooking spray, she took a closer look. “There was nothing scary on it, just this innocuous word, ‘propellant,’ ” said Ms. Sturges, a hairdresser from Los Gatos, Calif.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After digging deeper, she learned that “propellant” included petroleum gas, propane and butane. “I’d been spraying that on muffin tins to make muffins for my grandchildren — oh my God!”</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The only way Ms. Sturges could have known what the “propellant” consists of was to have read the materials data safety sheet that ConAgra files separately with the government, according to Mr. Gore.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The suit also claims, among other things, that Swiss Miss and Hunt’s labels bear improper claims about nutrients and antioxidant properties.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We researched regulations and labels for two years before filing our first case, and our cases don’t remotely resemble the Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries case,” Mr. Gore said. “Frankly, that one made me laugh.”</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/business/lawyers-of-big-tobacco-lawsuits-take-aim-at-food-industry.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0&pagewanted=print</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">sam gwynne</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1988 is, in many ways, a watershed for Rove. It shows you how an issue can … help Republicans accelerate this trend towards Republicanism. And the issue was tort reform. I think that the country is about to get a big dose of this [issue], but we've been having big doses of this for a long time [in Texas] -- in fact, since Karl Rove started to run Supreme Court justices back in the late '80s. The Supreme Court basically swung 100 percent, too. Rove ran almost every single one of them.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The kind of cases that would come to the Supreme Court would be, somebody works for an oil refinery down in Corpus Christi or something, and somebody gets hurt, or let's say, claims long-term poisoning by the atmosphere -- big case like this [is] your typical tort case. So a worker for the company would be poisoned or claiming he was poisoned, and then he would sue the company. And of course, the trial lawyers, the tort lawyers, would come in behind this guy, and the corporate defense lawyers would take [on] the major oil company that was being sued. This then would go up through the various lower courts, state courts and appellate courts. And some of these cases would get to the [Texas] Supreme Court.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So let's say the Supreme Court sided with the little guy all the time, which they did in the '80s. It became, in effect, a plaintiff's court. The Supreme Court in Texas was ruling almost every time in the favor of plaintiffs. The effect of this ... is you get higher malpractice rates for doctors; insurance costs a lot more money. Some people perceive it as an ill to society to have too many verdicts in favor of plaintiffs. If a woman gets scalded by McDonald's coffee, maybe she shouldn't get a $5 million award. This is the realm that we're in now.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So Karl comes in and says, "You know, we're going to run [with] tort reform. And he does for a whole decade.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How does he come up with this idea?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He wasn't the first one to think about it, but he understood what it was, and he understood how it could be used. He began deliberately to work for candidates for whom that issue was important. I think one of the reasons perhaps that someone in Texas would think of tort reform before someone in Iowa is because we have some of the most famous plaintiffs venues in the country here. In the Golden Triangle of Beaumont area of Texas, you have a lot of plants that made asbestos and other things or that used a lot of chemical and oil refinery. The border is perhaps the most notorious place. That's where the famous McDonald's verdict came from. Texas was a place where a smart trial lawyer could venue shop and get himself a good jury and get, you know, a $30 million verdict against a large company and win it and then take obviously half of it. This was the place where that sort of thing happened. So I think that Karl ... saw it as a coming issue, and a big one. And believe me, not everybody saw this.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The other side of it was … if you looked at the biggest givers to the Texas Democratic Party in the '80s and the '90s, you would see at the top of that list trial lawyers. So it became this giant pitched battle, because it wasn't just necessarily about the kind of verdicts and the ease with which someone might get a verdict for a plaintiff, but it was also about the back end, which was the financing of the entire Democratic Party. Karl saw it as an adversary proposition in that particular way, and he also saw, through these Supreme Court candidates, that this was the wave to ride. And he rode it.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now, the Supreme Court candidates in the state of Texas or almost anywhere else are "down ballot," as they say in the business. We're not talking about the governorship, for example. We're talking about something that is important to a certain group of people: business interests, trial lawyers, a handful of other people. … How does he figure out that this is the vulnerable spot? Is that Rove's genius at work or what?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I think it's Rove genius at work. I think he understands the significance of the issue before most people do. Most people do not understand that it's going to be this giant, pitched battle, which it becomes in the '90s -- I mean, a real pitched battle. It's a battle for the soul of Texas politics because it's a battle for the money, the lifeline money of Democrats, which is now drying up. …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bill Miller</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Texas political consultant</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How does tort reform become an issue in a state like this? And how important was it?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Well, what happened in tort reform is that Republicans were still thwarted in winning statewide office in many ways. And there was not a breakthrough moment until 60 Minutes came to the state in '89 and did an expose, is justice for sale on the Texas Supreme Court? They had done some filming at a retreat where judges were there, and there were big trial lawyers, and it was just too friendly for words. You looked at the pictures and you think, "This really doesn't measure up."</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And many of the decisions coming out of the court were angering -- and that's putting it mildly -- business interests in the state. Suddenly, you had this TV profile about the Supreme Court.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bill Clements had won election to the governorship after being thwarted in '82, and the chief justice retired. So he appointed a fellow named Tom Phillips to become chief justice. Tom is as straight as the day is long -- nicest guy you'll ever want to meet. He had a great issue, and he had Karl Rove as his consultant and they took [on] the court. They beat the Democrats, and then the Democrats began seeing that this is going to be a hard place to live successfully.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The other members of the court left. Other appointments were made. And suddenly the court was beginning to switch to Republican. And this is down ballot, which is not normally how you win statewide races. You win at the top rather than the bottom. But because the court had tort reform and Karl, it was a great environment to elect Republicans. You could raise a huge amount of money. You had a great gut emotional issue, and you were in business.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What makes it a great gut emotional issue?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If you have tort reform, and you have a news profile that basically slams your opposition -- in this case the trial bar; it makes them look like total sellouts, buying justice, buying the result on the court -- that is something that people can feel. It's a visceral reaction. It's dishonest. And then you got the 60 Minutes label on this, and all of a sudden you've got money, you got a good candidate, you got a visceral issue. When people see it, they get emotionally tight about it.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What's your assessment of the effect, in terms of Texas politics, of those victories?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Well, I think that what happened is the trial bar became the bogeyman in state politics. Anybody who took money from trial lawyers became part of tort reform [opposition]. And so in legislative races and other races, any time the Democratic Party and the Democratic candidates took an enormous amount of money from the trial bar, then you could say, "They're in the back pocket of the trial bar." It gave you an issue going forward, and you could paint your opponent as being against tort reform and in the pocket of the trial bar. That worked as a miracle drug for politics.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In other words, if you just got some money from the trial lawyers --</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Your opponent had to defend taking that money. And you know, the environment was such that defense was never credible. The more you talk about it, the deeper the hole. …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Part of the story of the Supreme Court and tort reform was that the system was awash in all kinds of funny money. … And Phillips made this promise or pledge…</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He did a self-limitation on contributions. In Texas you can give as much money as you choose to in state races, and Tom Phillips was the first candidate, I believe, who sort of self-limited what he would receive. At the end of the day it didn't really affect the amount of money he raised, because he raised millions and millions of dollars. He just raised it in slightly smaller amounts than the big chunks that you see otherwise.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How smart an idea was that, at the time?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Well, it was a perfect idea for coming out of what you had seen that you're working against the trial bar, which had given enormous-sized checks. So it made him look like he was trying to clean up the system and look straight and narrow. And that was exactly the perception that people had of him. And that's exactly the way he is, really. …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">kim ross</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lobbyist, Texas Medical Association</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">…How does [Karl Rove] attach himself to this issue, or the issue attach itself to him?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He knew intuitively, as most of us would have, that you had to have, as Mark Twain says, "a devil for the crusade." And if this was the crusade in the context of a judicial race, of which no one really cares about, you had to demonize somebody and in this case it was central casting. [The Supreme Court justices] were doing it to themselves. They were writing opinions that were offensive on their face. And essentially one particular opinion stated, "I don't care what this court previously said. I don't care what the legislature said. In fact, I was in this legislature when this law was passed. It was a political compromise. I've been elected to the court, and therefore I have a mandate to change these laws because they just aren't right." And there was a level of hubris, and we had a side that allowed us to exploit that. And it just so happened, because that was that era when the trial lawyers were a very convenient device for us to use to begin to educate voters in terms of a philosophical shift.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And Karl's particular skill position, his expertise?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Communication. He has a gift for messaging, among other things, as history has shown us. But a great sense of campaigning, knowing where the votes were, knowing what messages worked with which voters. … Karl retailed it and convinced a very cynical lobby to impose self limits … on what [amount of money] they would accept, again distinguishing himself. It was a ingenious approach.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of course the chief justice [Tom Phillips] was a very, very bright man -- but so was Karl. And [Phillips] sat us in a room and he said, "I know you all want to send me more money. I will not accept more than this," what we thought were fairly minimal amounts, knowing the other side was going to outspend us. And Rove said, "And that's the point. Their strength becomes their weakness." And I was nodding my head and thinking, "That's very smart and bold and very risky, but also arguably by far the best strategy to take if you want to take the risk." …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So what tort reform really is, is a catch phrase, an organizing principle. It's like "Right to Work…"</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yeah, it's an organizing principle to bring together swing voters and, more importantly, to consolidate business [and] professional communities together. And frankly … tort reform has a kinder, gentler face. … It's a way of softening the blunt instrument that tort reform is when you're asking to limit damages or to allow to counter sue or limit standards for expert witnesses and all the things that are the esoterica of what, essentially, is saying, "Plaintiff, you had this right, but we're taking it away because we think you've abused it." And you do it by putting a lab coat on and arguing about access to care and the cost of medical care, not whether or not Dow Chemical is going to pay this or this and punitive damages on a suit where they might or might not be guilty. …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Was tort reform a big issue in [the 1994 Texas governor's race]?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It was. Yeah, it was.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And that was Karl driving that in or that was Bush?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I think it would be indistinguishable. I mean, it was a mantra-like issue for their natural core constituencies, including doctors. And it was also something that they could run right at Ann [Richards] with, because she had tons of trial lawyer support. It was a wedge issue, but it would have been imprudent not to use it. …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How important was the success of tort reform in that first term for Bush, for Bush's re-election? …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It established his pro-business credentials in a real simple and obvious way. It was not in and of itself the one thing, but it was delivering on a promise. It was certainly consolidated business and professional support for him in ways it would make him virtually unassailable from a Democrat ever again, which was something still to consider in those days in Texas. …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">tom masset</font></div>
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court (1988-2004)</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">… So the plan for your campaign, what was the bottom line? One of the decisions early on was that you would only accept certain amount of donations. What did you guys sit down and decide and why?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of the things I liked about working with Karl is, although he was not a lawyer, he instantly perceived why a race for judge needed to be entirely different than a race for any other political office. And why it would be bad for the state -- and fatal politically -- for a judicial candidate, to be taking a position on substantive policy issues that were currently being debated around the state; why judicial candidates had to be seen as, and in fact be completely in adherence with both the spirit and the law of all the ethical codes and the ethical norms that surrounded being a judge.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I think he felt the tension between judges standing for election and judges being judges in a way that most political consultants simply had no patience with. Their view was -- many of them at any rate -- go out and try to jump on some of the bandwagons of momentary public interest, whether that was English-only in the schools, or abortion, or guns, and be seen as a popular advocate for something and win a lot of votes. And the next time an election comes up, if there were other hot issues, by then you could get in front of those. Karl completely rejected that and was instrumental in seeing that the Republican Party rejected that. …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I made it clear that I was soliciting people to vote for me, not because I was a Republican, but because of the job I would do as a judge. Karl was quite good at crafting that message, and persuading other people to accept that message. I'd never run a contested race before for any office. And I was seen, I think quite rightly, as a neophyte in terms of actual experience. …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The "Clean Slate '88" vote -- how important was that? And how did that come about? Why did that group take on the important role that they did?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1988 was a very unusual year because ordinarily there were three justices on the ballot each year, on a nine-justice court, but, because of resignations, there were six races for the Supreme Court on the ballot in 1988. So it was absolutely a chance to shape the whole Texas Supreme Court. …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And so with an opportunity for six of the nine seats to be decided in one election, a lot of groups that might otherwise have just sat aside and watched … decided to get involved. And there was a coalition built -- which I'm really not aware of the details, because it was conducted separate from the campaign -- that decided to back a bipartisan slate. That was seen to be very important at the time, not only because they genuinely felt that some Republicans and some Democrats were going to be better justices, but also because the state was not a Republican state. … The heritage of the Civil War and FDR, made the Democratic Party the dominant party at the courthouse level in Texas by a huge margin, perhaps 10 to 1 [among] all elected officials in the state.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This "Clean Slate" effort tried to break through that. We tried to go out into areas of the state that had never voted for a Republican before, except perhaps for Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan, maybe Sen. Tower, Sen. Gramm. [We] tried to go out and convince those people that it was safe to vote Republican way further down the ballot, at least in some of the races; that you couldn't look at these judge races on a partisan basis. You had to look at the individuals. The judges weren't going to behave in a party fashion. There wasn't going to be a party platform for the cases they heard.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So what was Karl Rove's involvement with that kind of an organization, and also in understanding that the vote had to be pushed out into the rural areas?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">… Karl had some excellent ideas of how to take an abstract plan -- let's make a judicial race interesting to 2 million voters -- and put that into practice in a way that people will decide it was important enough to study who all these candidates were in these court races, and cast a vote not based on which party had felt which way about the Civil War, but based on right now, what was important to the people of the state of Texas.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So in 1988, [six] out of nine Supreme Court judges were replaced. … Did that sort of set the stage for a lot of other Republicans, and Republican donors to realize that this was a doable thing?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I'm sure the fact that [so many Republicans candidates won] the Supreme Court was important in building the Republican Party. For whatever reason the Republicans left very few races unopposed after that on the statewide ballot. I think [there were only] maybe five or six judicial races where there was a Democratic incumbent for the rest of the decade. At most five or six did not have an opponent. And, of course, by the end of the 1990s, Republicans were running unopposed, at least in judicial races. …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The bigger issue of tort reform, what was Karl Rove's point of view on the issue and in the support that it garnered?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Well, I think there was a widespread feeling in Texas at the time among the average citizen, as well as among other people, that the trial lawyers were too powerful within the legislature. The plaintiff's personal injury lawyers, as a small group, had wielded an inordinate amount of power in the legislature. And Texas's very lax venue laws -- those are laws that say where you can [hold a] trial -- allowed a disproportionate number of cases to be tried in areas of the state that had no real connection with the dispute, but were areas where juries were known to be liable to give a very large award if their sympathies could be properly invoked.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And that reputation was very damaging to the state of Texas in terms of discouraging businesses to locate in Texas, or expand, or discouraging professionals like doctors to locate their practice uniformly across the state rather than just in particular areas. And [many thought] it would be a good thing for Texas if the legislature would overhaul some of the tort laws, and if the judges would have somewhat more respect for the common-law precedence that had obtained in Texas for a long time, and not be quite so "activist," was the popular term in overruling those precedents. And I think Karl felt that. …</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Were you surprised that Karl sort of rode this issue and pushed it and that it still is such a popular issue today, an important issue?</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Well, Gov. Bush ran in 1994 against Gov. Richards on four planks, and tort reform was one of those planks, and he got what he wanted from the legislature on all four of those planks. And since then, some citizen groups have formed in Texas that have been remarkably successful in persuading legislators to adopt their suggested changes in tort law. And they've done it without going through the normal, capitol lobbyist crowd.</font></div>
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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I think Karl has seen that, and it has been a salient issue in Texas. And so I'm not surprised that he's interested in that issue, but I don't think you can draw a direct line from Supreme Court races in 1988 to the proposals that President Bush is making before Congress now. …</font></div>
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