Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

We hear a lot these days about a supposedly compelling need to overhaul our civil court system in this country. It's just not true. There is no compelling need - at least not one that serves the greater public good. When you hear about tort reform, you are hearing the carefully-crafted messages put out by a public relations machine, that is very well-financed by the asbestos manufacturers, tobacco companies, big pharmaceutical conglomerates, environmental polluters, insurance companies, and their big business allies. What polluter wouldn't want to keep you from holding them responsible for poisoning your drinking water? It would be much better for them to make sure that you could never, ever do anything about the harm they cause. These people want to fool you into throwing out one of the most precious protections we Americans have - the right to have our day in court.

Those behind the tort reform rhetoric are not the friends of the American public. It is time we wake up and see them for who they really are.

The fact of the matter is that holding corporations responsible when they harm others has to be part of any system that is truly fair. Throughout most of the world, the powerful make all the rules - and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Although powerful interests still hold sway over many things in our nation, too, there is one place where the average citizen can be on equal footing with the powerful. That place is the courthouse - in front of a jury of our peers.

There have been lots of tort "reform" proposals which may sound nice at first, but the tort "reformers" are just throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I read a short editorial today which explains things in a really straightforward way. I hope you will take a moment to read it. And, the next time you hear someone make a wise crack about an injury lawyer, I hope you will remember who will be your friend when you need us.