Jobs, Not Lawsuits

by Lisa Rickard

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

The next few years will be a transformational time that could define the future of our civil justice system, U.S. decision makers must consider the costs of expanding liability for job creators during the economic recovery. At our 10th Annual Legal Reform Summit we are unveiling a number of new research pieces to help influence the legal reform debate including:

• Selling Lawsuits, Buying Trouble: The Emerging World of Third-Party Litigation Financing in the United States - a paper outlining the problems associated with third-party litigation financing and calling for the outright prohibition of the system in the U.S. or, at the very least, a ban on third-party financing in aggregate litigation;
• Promoting Merit in Merit Selection - a ‘best practices’ guide to assist states in taking politics out of the merit selection process to seat supreme court justices;
• 101 Ways to Improve State Legal Systems - a comprehensive compendium of legal reform options for implementation by state legislatures, which allows legal reform leaders to modify their approach based on the unique policy and political landscape of their state.

Follow live updates at http://twitter.com/legalreform or search for hashtage #LRS