The Birmingham News (AL), December 1, 2007
Anniston Star (AL), December 1, 2007

Houston Chronicle columnist Rick Casey recently reported that many of the "poster child" cases for the "tort reform" agenda advanced by big business are either entirely fabricated or exaggerated beyond recognition. He then observed that the media, "too dazzled by marvelous stories to do even the easiest research to determine whether they were true," bear much of the blame.

Casey advises that all such claims be researched, adding "the next time an Internet tale makes you think things are even worse than you thought, check it out. Especially when the tale suggests that the American system is stacked against wealthy corporations."

Casey's advice rings true. Scarcely a month passes here in Alabama without business activist Lewis Fuller decrying the "tort tax" that Americans must pay to support our judicial system. Citing the ultra-right-wing Pacific Research Institute, he routinely asserts that "the bill comes to $865.37 billion" for the whole country, and he then suggests Americans would not have to pay this "tort tax" if it were not for "the trial bar's excesses." But just as you might expect after reading Casey's column, a little research reveals the PRI is just another industry-funded organization dedicated to eliminating the right to trial by jury.

A more objective source:

Anyone who wants the truth will consider a more objective source. The Economic Policy Institute, an organization whose board of directors is drawn from government, industry (including insurers), labor and academia (www.epi.org/content.cfm/board), recently reported there is "no credible evidence" to support industry assertions that tort litigation has resulted in lost jobs and increased product and insurance costs. Indeed, in considering the most commonly advanced proposals for "reforming" the ancient common law tort system, the institute concludes that "what little effect changing the tort system will have on the economy might hurt job creation rather than help it."

But in his zeal to protect big business, Fuller places the cart before the horse, and fails to consider just who is to blame for the "tort tax" he decries, for if there were no unsafe products, then it would not be necessary for Americans to hire tort lawyers in the first place.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, every single year there are about 4,500 deaths and 13.7 million injuries associated with just 15 categories of consumer products, not including automobiles. Add to these the deaths and injuries caused annually by toxic substances and pharmaceutical products, and it should be obvious the real "tort tax" is paid not in the form of dollars, but in the deaths and injuries caused by industry negligence. There is no doubt this "tort tax" will soar if Fuller and his strategically named Alabama Voters Against Lawsuit Abuse get their way.

Robert Leslie Palmer is a Birmingham attorney and the founder and president of the Alabama Legal Reform Foundation. E-mail: WaveHoya@charter.net.