Plaintiffs’ trial lawyers are often dismissed as “billboard lawyers” who file “frivolous lawsuits.” That stereotype misses much of the good the profession does, and few episodes show it more clearly than the trial bar’s response to September 11, 2001.
What much of the public doesn’t know is that in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, a group of lawyers met at the Washington, D.C., offices of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA). ATLA, now known as the American Association for Justice (AAJ), is the national organization of plaintiffs’ lawyers and works to promote civil justice and preserve the jury trial system. At that meeting, the group drafted a legislative proposal and submitted it to Congress. It became the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which Congress passed just ten days after the attacks.
A month later, ATLA went further and created Trial Lawyers Care (TLC). The organization was the brainchild of a past ATLA president, who worked with other ATLA leaders and with leaders of state trial lawyer associations across the country. Its mission was to represent 9/11 victims and their families in their claims before the Compensation Fund, at no fee and no cost to them. Hear from leaders who are part of the TLC here: http://pli.edu/…/episodes/-september-11-trial-lawyers-care
The scale of that effort was immense. TLC began by publishing a 300-page manual to train volunteer lawyers to represent victims before the Fund, later revising it to conform to the regulations governing the Fund. It assembled a panel of 200 expert witnesses who agreed to consult and testify without charge. It held 20 seminars and teleconferences to train lawyers, hosted 200 community information meetings, and distributed 6,000 information packets to victims and their families.
The response from the profession was staggering. More than 1,000 lawyers volunteered, from all 50 states as well as Canada, Mexico, England, and even Australia.
TLC’s work continues today. It recently launched a campaign to help children who have lost access to free and reduced-price school meals, and it plans new projects to benefit Indigenous and Native American communities. These efforts, past and present, show what the trial bar gives to our communities on an entirely pro bono basis, and they deserve to be recognized.
That record of public service extends well beyond pro bono work. Litigation brought by trial lawyers helped put seatbelts in cars, made football helmets far more protective, drove asbestos out of public buildings, and pulled dangerous drugs off the market before they could harm more unsuspecting consumers.
Working at Locks Law Firm has allowed me to call myself a trial lawyer for almost fifty years, and I am especially proud of what my profession has done for society. The next time you pass a highway billboard or hear a lawsuit called frivolous, remember that many lawyers are donating their time and working to make things better for consumers and for all of us.
