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Legal System
Our system of tort law, and the attorneys who help individuals and businesses bring suit for redress of injuries, are essential for protecting most persons against the powerful few —whether those with power are corporations, individuals, or government. Efforts to weaken tort law and limit access to the legal system are anti-democratic. While there may be ways in which our tort system, like every other system, could be improved, Commonweal Institute considers it important to educate the public and elected officials about the vital role that tort law and trial lawyers play in our society.
Webster’s dictionary defines “tort” as a wrongful act (not involving a breach of contract) that results in an injury, loss, or damage, for which the injured party can bring civil legal action, such as trespass, assault and battery, defamation, and the like. In practice, tort law has been the basis for many actions that have resulted in protection for all citizens (and non-citizens as well). For example, tort actions dealing with environmental contamination, health, tobacco, asbestos, product defects, and worker safety have resulted in court decisions, government policy, and legislation that protects us all, including the powerful few.
- Commonweal Institute's collection of
articles and reports focusing on the right-wing attack on the judicial system.
- Commentary by Commonweal Institute Senior Fellow Patrick O’Heffernan,
“Tort Reform” will handcuff lawyers fighting for National Guard Families
- Commonweal Institute's report,
The Attack on Trial Lawyers and Tort Law. (PDF file, approx. 1 MB.)
Also available in an online HTML version.
Printed copies of the report can be purchased for $18 each (including postage and handling). To order a copy, telephone us at 650-854-9796; Mastercard and VISA are accepted. There is a discount for orders of 5 or more copies.
- Commonweal Institute's report,
Faulty Data and False Conclusions: The Myth of Skyrocketing Medical Malpractice Verdicts.
- An article by Commonweal Institute President by Leonard Salle,
Responding to the attack on trial lawyers and tort law,
which appeared in the Verdict, the magazine of the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia.
The article follows a reprinting of the Introduction and Section 1 from the Commonweal Institute report,
The Attack on Trial Lawyers and Tort Law.
- Remarks by David C. Johnson, Luncheon speaker
at the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA)
Annual Convention educational session titled,
"Tort Reform: An International Problem With International Solutions"
Boston, July 7, 2004
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