| President's Column
January 2006 / Volume 42, Issue 1
Making our message heard
As you know, earlier this year AAJ
launched a long-term, national communications campaign to change the
debate over issues important to our members. Our goals are twofold: to
tell the story about trial lawyers’ unwavering commitment to seeking the
truth, providing justice, and holding negligent corporations
accountable, and to highlight our opponents’ unscrupulous tactics and
true motives. Our campaign is well under way, and I want to share with
you some of the exciting things that are happening.
It is no secret that our opponents are
well-heeled and deeply committed to eliminating the rights of
individuals to hold wrongdoers accountable. Decades ago, they embarked
on an aggressive misinformation campaign to sell the public, the press,
legislators, and judges on the idea that trial lawyers, their clients,
and even the civil justice system itself have hindered the delivery of
quality health care and stymied economic growth. They have been
relentless in their attacks, and they will stop at nothing until they
dismantle the civil justice system so that they can evade responsibility
and further abuse their power.
 But
thanks to your support, and especially that of our Leaders Forum
members, we are fighting back, and we are doing so harder than ever
before.
During November and December, through
several different mechanisms, we brought to light efforts by the White
House and leaders in Congress to hide sweeping immunity protections in
bioterror and pandemic flu bills. To get our message out on the
Internet, we used Google search-engine ads and ran blog ads titled,
“What does the bird flu have to do with Viagra?” The goal was to
highlight the broad nature of these provisions. Both tactics were wildly
successful, and our ads were featured in the Washington Post as a new
and innovative approach to advocacy.
After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf
Coast, U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) went on National Public Radio to
claim that people were not volunteering for the relief effort because
they were afraid of being sued. This was the opening salvo in an
attempt, as usual, to use a stalking horse to advance the corporate
community’s real agenda—immunity for the contractors getting no-bid,
million-dollar deals.
We responded forcefully. We issued a
statement, got coverage in the Wall Street Journal, and debated the
Manhattan Institute on CNBC. We used press releases to turn the issue to
President Bush’s failure to address widespread abuses by the insurance
industry in the aftermath of the disaster.
Not only are we fighting back; we are
also changing the debate. For example, for many years the debate over
medical malpractice has pitted doctors against lawyers. But recently,
when the medical malpractice bill came up for a vote on the House floor,
AAJ highlighted a provision that provides sweeping immunity to drug
companies. Through our aggressive press and lobbying efforts, we shifted
the focus of the floor debate and in the press, placing it squarely on
protecting people—right where it always should be.
In the states
A key component of AAJ’s communications plan is an effort to help state
trial lawyer associations create and implement state-based
communications campaigns. We have been traveling across the country to
meet with staff and leaders from the state associations to hear their
thoughts on how we can best help them. We created a rapid-response
hotline for the states to use when they need immediate assistance. Soon,
we will begin holding regional communications planning sessions to help
the state associations develop their own plans, and we’ll conduct
message training for state leaders, staff, and members.
During the November Board of Governors’
meeting, I had the chance to visit our new communications office. Even
at the hour most of us would consider the end of the day, it was
bustling with activity. It reminded me of the disciplined, aggressive,
and organized way AAJ members prepare for trial. As I look ahead to the
next few years, I know that our communications campaign will be critical
to our success.
For the campaign to be truly effective,
we need your support. By the time you read this, you will have received
a notice of dues assessment for the second year in a row. AAJ’s
leadership made the decision to assess again because we cannot make this
plan work without broad-based support.
This dues assessment is voluntary; no one
will lose his or her membership by choosing not to pay it. However, I
urge you to consider this assessment crucial to keeping this exciting,
effective communications campaign going strong as we tell the story
about trial lawyers’ commitment to the truth. I hope we can count on you
to participate.
—Kenneth M. Suggs
RELATED INFORMATION:
Ken Sugg's Bio
Announcement of AAJ Presidency
Articles: "New President Hopes to Boost Trial Lawyers' Image"
About Our Law Firm
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