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AAJ Calls On U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Halt False, Unfair and
Deceptive Advertisements
Chamber engaging in “cynical effort to weaken the civil
justice system”
Monday, May 7, 2007 (Washington, DC)—The American Association
for Justice today demanded that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce immediately
halt a series of false, unfair and deceptive print and broadcast advertisements
promoting its ongoing campaign to weaken the nation’s civil
justice system.
“By airing and publishing these false, unfair and deceptive
ads, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is misleading the public in a cynical
effort to weaken the civil justice system,” said Jon Haber,
CEO of the American Association for Justice. “The Chamber and
the stations and newspapers must take immediate action and stop airing
and publishing them.”
The Chamber’s ads, appearing in numerous markets throughout
the country, claim that “lawsuit abuse” costs the average
American household $3,520 a year, based on a 2006 report by Tillinghast
Towers Perrin. However, Russ Sutter, the chief author of the report,
says the Chamber’s use of the data is “misleading.”
According to an online Wall Street Journal blog:
But Russ Sutter, a Tillinghast principal and primary author of the
study, told me the firm’s numbers are being misrepresented by
the U.S. Chamber Institute. The ads make the dubious assumption that
every lawsuit in the tort system is frivolous. Mr. Sutter said his
group didn’t try to evaluate the merit of individual lawsuits,
but simply set out to calculate the cost of the entire tort system.
“The way they use it makes it sound like the $3,520 is all for
abusive lawsuits,” he told me. Furthermore, the ad “assumes
all the costs we tabulate in our study are due to lawsuits. That’s
a bit misleading” — because other costs associated with
insurance are also included.
Moreover, Sutter maintains his report is not intended to measure
the cost of lawsuit abuse. As the study itself unequivocally notes,
“the costs tabulated in this study are not a reflection of litigated
claims or of the legal system.’’ (Sutter’s comments
can be found at http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/how-much-are-frivolous-lawsuits-really-costing-you-95/.)
Just last year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had to pull ads falsely
claiming that several candidates for Congress voted in favor of landmark
legislation providing seniors with prescription drug coverage. In
fact, three of the candidates had not yet been elected when the vote
occurred and a fourth opposed it in a subsequent vote.
“The U.S. Chamber’s campaign of lies and deception must
stop now. The Chamber knows the ads are wrong, and there can be no
excuse to continue to run them,” said Haber. “The Chamber’s
phony attack on our civil justice system is designed to enable corporate
interests to evade accountability for wrongdoing and negligence.”
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As the world's largest trial bar, AAJ (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) promotes justice and fairness for injured persons, defends the constitutional right to trial by jury, and strengthens the civil justice system through education and disclosure of information critical to public health and safety. Serving members worldwide, AAJ provides attorneys with the information and professional assistance they need to serve clients successfully and protect the democratic values of the civil justice system. Visit http://www.justice.org
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