Trial Magazine

Just like you would never go to trial without a plan, we never go into a new Congress and a new administration without a plan to combat anti-civil-justice measures.

So what’s on deck first? Any bills that passed the House but the Senate did not take up during the last Congress are fair game, and we will have to respond at a moment’s notice. These include: the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act (Rule 11 sanctions would be mandatory); the Fraudulent Joinder Prevention Act (making it more difficult to remand improperly removed cases to state court); the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act (making it more challenging to get class actions certified); and the Furthering Asbestos Claims Transparency Act (victims of asbestos diseases would have a harder time recovering damages from asbestos trusts).

AAJ also is prepared to deal with anti-civil-justice bills that were discussed in the House Judiciary Committee but stopped short of a floor vote, such as a comprehensive bill to cap noneconomic and punitive damages—along with attorney fees—in medical malpractice, medical products, and nursing home cases. With Congress and President Trump focused on replacing the Affordable Care Act, med mal tort reform measures could gain traction.

Other bills that the committee discussed last year but were not voted on in the House include measures making it harder to bring a lawsuit for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and eliminating the complete diversity requirement—which would send more state cases to federal court when at least one defendant and one plaintiff in a case are from different states. New issues will come up, too, and this list doesn’t even include topics under other committees’ jurisdiction such as transportation, taxes, and the environment.

While AAJ does not know how the new Congress and the new adminis­tration will work together, here are some things that we always do when ­anti-civil-justice forces control the congressional agenda.

Develop contingency plans. Because we already know the anticipated issues, first we update our fact sheets and victim stories, incorporating new cases and research into our current advocacy. We also get our Hill allies up-to-speed on recurring issues and work closely with our coalition partners at organizations that also use the legal system to advance civil justice. And we harness social media to deliver our message to a wider audience.

Use our best evidence. You always use your best evidence at trial, so help us by making sure that we have it, too. Have you sent us a compelling client story? Talking about how a bill would adversely affect the public is an important way to personalize a policy discussion. Please contact Charlotte McBirney at charlotte.mcbirney@justice.org to share a case.

Or do you want to write an op-ed for your local paper on a civil justice issue? Our media relations staff can offer content suggestions and assist with placement opportunities. Please contact Sarah Jones at sarah.jones@justice.org.

Everything but the kitchen sink. Under the Obama administration, we played defense on the Hill to stop bad bills from passing, but we generally had the administration’s support. Now we are playing defense in both arenas—and we must use everything we have to prevent harmful legislation and regulation rollback. And the key to this is a successful advocacy program that knows what strategy works best for each issue. AAJ excels at this—especially when we have your help.

Susan Steinman is AAJ’s senior director of policy and senior counsel. She can be reached at susan.steinman@justice.org. To contact AAJ Public Affairs, email advocacy@justice.org.