LEGAL REFORM

CED Signs on to Legal Reform Effort

CED Trustee Derek C. Bok, Professor, Harvard University, JFK School of Government, speaks at legal reform luncheon.

CED in Brief
Legal Reform: Common Sense Reforms and Innovative Alternatives
CED, along with Common Good, and the Hudson Institute, hosted a panel discussion on early offers and legal reform at a May 6th luncheon in Washington, D.C. The national coalition, a bi-partisan legal reform initiative, announced that it was filing legal petitions in 12 State Supreme Courts proposing to change the rules governing the contingency fees charged by lawyers in "early offer" settlements in personal injury cases. The proposed change would reduce the fees received by lawyers in these situations, reduce court congestion, and increase the incentive to settle rather than litigate certain liability claims.

Panel members included Derek C. Bok, Professor, Harvard University, JFK School of Government, Michael J. Horowitz, director of Hudson Institute's Project for Civil Justice Reform and Project for International Religious Liberty, Philip K. Howard, Founder and Chair of Common Good, Vice Chairman of Covington & Burling, CED president Charles E. M. Kolb, Jeffrey O'Connell, the Samuel H. McCoy II Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, and Jeffrey A. Rosen, litigation partner at Kirkland & Ellis.

For more information, please contact Amy Morse at (202) 296-5860, or amy.morse@ced.org.

Breaking the Litigation Habit

CED’s new report, Breaking the Litigation Habit calls our litigation system “too intrusive, too slow, and too expensive.”   The current system does not adequately or fairly compensate people for injuries; it imposes costs that threaten to impair economic innovation; and it undermines the trust and civility among our citizens that are essential to a well-functioning, democratic society.

The CED report recommends two innovative, pro-consumer reforms for America’s tort system.  These two proposals, Early Offers and Auto Choice, would provide quick and fair compensation without resorting to litigation and would substantially reduce the costs of our civil justice system.  By offering benefits to both potential plaintiffs and defendants, the proposals would reduce incentives to litigate.

Roderick M. Hills, Chairman of Hills Enterprises, and Martin B. Zimmerman, Vice President, Governmental Affairs of Ford Motor Company co-chair the legal reform subcommittee. John Hoff directed the project.  The statement was released in April, 2000.

Press Release | Executive Summary | Full Report | Order ($18)