Blawgletter somehow missed the survey that the American Association for Justice — the main trade group for plaintiffs’ trial lawyers — commissioned on attitudes about civil justice from Peter D. Hart Research Associates. It came out last month. And guess what? Most people worry more about corporate irresponsibility than lawsuit abuse.
For example:
- 55 percent said they see securities fraud and misuse of personal information about individuals as "extremely serious" problems.
- 47 percent view excessive corporate power as extremely serious.
- 34 percent believe trial lawyers’ making too much money counts as an extremely serious worry.
Check out the AAJ’s summary of other results here.
One should of course take poll results like this with a grain of salt. We would want to know more about methodology and the questions themselves before pronouncing a survey reliable. But we bet that lawyers who represent plaintiffs will feel the Hart findings at least as gratifying as they find polls by opponents of "jackpot justice" infuriating.
Barry Barnett
