The Center for Study of Responsive Law released today a new report titled “The Rise and Fall (and Rise?) of Texas Trial Lawyers.”
The sixty-six-page report focuses on the attacks on the civil justice system in Texas over the last two decades or so.
The report examines the gutting of worker’s compensation, corporate supreme court of Texas, Proposition 12, and the “Loser Pays” statute of 2011.
Ralph Nader said in the preface, “This report is a combination of reality and realistic hope.”
“When the chance to attain some measure of civil justice in Texas state courts is stripped away by statute, constitutional revision and judicial elections, all driven by commercial interests greased with ample campaign cash,” said Nader, “the proper word for this condition is ‘crisis.’”
The report’s author Andrew Spencer Goldman, the first Stuart Speiser Memorial fellow, said the report, “particularly focuses on the Proposition 12 campaign of almost a decade ago.”
The analysis and recommendations should help prevent similar missteps in Texas and around the country in the future for those who are committed to a vibrant civil justice system. The report also suggests steps trial lawyers in Texas and throughout the country can take to repair the serious damage corporate interests have done to the civil justice system.
The Stuart Speiser Memorial Fellowship was established to honor Stuart M. Speiser, a noted lawyer/author of more than 50 books including coauthoring the multivolume, legal encyclopedia “The American Law of Torts.” Speiser represented plaintiffs in many famous cases, especially on the frontier of aviation crash liability. He represented Ralph Nader in his suit against General Motors. He was also involved in several important cases which helped further the law of strict liability for injuries caused by defective products. The fellowship position provides a unique opportunity for candidates who are passionate about the civil justice system and committed to safeguarding and expanding tort law.
Printed copies of the report is available for purchase from the Center for Study of Responsive Law: http://csrl.wpengine.com/texas-trial-lawyer/
The Center for Study of Responsive Law is a nonprofit Ralph Nader organization that supports and conducts a wide variety of research and educational projects to encourage the political, economic and social institutions of this country to be more aware of the needs of the citizen-consumer. The Center has published numerous reports on a number of public interest issues and was an early pioneer in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) movement.
* About the Author Andrew S. Goldman is an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of New York. He graduated with a B.A. in Politics from Princeton
University, received a M.A. in American Studies from Columbia University, and a J.D. from University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. He worked at the Center for Study of Responsive Law in 2012 as the inaugural Stuart Speiser Memorial Fellow.