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Spotlight on Justice

Spotlight: Autonomous Cars Are Still Unsafe
July 16, 2024
MORE SPOTLIGHTS ON JUSTICE

Studies

Dark Clouds Fading Light

September 24, 2024
MORE STUDIES

Most Recent Study

Dark Clouds Fading Light
September 24, 2024
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Study: Moving Hazards; Transportation Systems and Environmental Disasters
May 29, 2024
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Jury Excision: Medical Malpractice, Forced Arbitration, and Alternative Compensation Systems
February 29, 2024
Summary:
Study examines anti-patient proposals pushed by organized medicine and the insurance industry to force or pressure medical malpractice victims to resolve medical malpractice cases entirely outside the court system.
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Briefing Book: Medical Malpractice By the Numbers
January 29, 2024
Summary:
All the latest statistics about medical malpractice litigation, cost, access to doctors, insurance, and patient safety.
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Kicked Out of Court in 2023; 50 Cases Showing the Real-World Impact of Forced Arbitration
December 4, 2023
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Backgrounder: How Secondary Asbestos Exposure Devastates Families
September 4, 2023
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Backgrounder: Forced Invasions Of Privacy; The Attack on Third-Party Litigation Financing
June 29, 2023
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Nuclear Fizzle: How Jury Grievance Reports Whitewash Corporate Misconduct and Dehumanize Victims
June 7, 2023
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Inventing Social Inflation 2023
March 14, 2023
Summary:
Study finds that commercial insurers are misrepresenting their actual losses, sometimes by large percentages, in order to justify its price-gouging of businesses and to push for restrictions on the legal rights of everyday Americans.
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Study: Big Trucks - An Avoidable Public Safety Crisis, Introduction and Summary, Large Trucks Are Extremely Dangerous, Drivers of Large Trucks: Bad Working Conditions and Huge Turnover, Trucking Companies Are Being Price-Gouged By Insurance Companies, How Juries Respond to Trucking Industry Recklessness
November 14, 2022
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System Letdown: Worker Safety, Harm and Compensation in the Age of Covid-19
April 14, 2022
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Study: PILLS; Big Pharma, the FDA, and Problem Medicine
November 12, 2021
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Download the brochure - and learn all about Insurance Isle
June 3, 2021
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Insurance: The Essential Guide to a Bewildering Industry
March 31, 2021
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Lifesavers 2021
January 18, 2021
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Civil Lawsuits Lead to Better Safer Law Enforcement
December 7, 2020
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Study: Limiting Lawsuits; Small Businesses' Least Concern
October 5, 2020
Summary:
For many years, small business surveys have put “lawsuits” or “liability” at the bottom of their list of concerns, if they're mentioned at all. Even during the pandemic, the same is true.
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Trump’s Top 50 Anti-Civil Justice Scorecard
July 21, 2020
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Study: Bad Actors Opening Badly; Why Legal Accountability Is So Important
June 1, 2020
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Study: How the Cash Rich Insurance Industry Fakes Crises and Invents Social Inflation
March 9, 2020
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Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Other Transportation Hazards
January 7, 2020
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Top 15 Things We Learned From Our Deep Dive Into CBO’s New Medical Malpractice Working Paper, CJ&D's September 19, 2019 Letter to CBO
September 18, 2019
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The Importance of Civil Justice to Sexual Assault Survivors and the Devastating Consequences of Tort Reform
March 13, 2019
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Top 22 Celebrities Harmed By Medical Malpractice
September 20, 2018
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Top 30 “Tort Reform” Hypocrites of 2018!
June 11, 2018
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Backgrounder: Protecting the Legal Rights of Generic Drug Victims
April 20, 2018
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A "Retort" To The White House Budget's Medical Malpractice Proposals
February 15, 2018
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First Class Relief: How Class Actions Benefit Those Who Are Injured, Defrauded and Violated, FirstClassRelief2017F4.pdf
November 7, 2017
Summary:
Two studies of class action settlements finding overwhelming evidence that class actions have helped victims of corporate law-breaking and led to changes in corporate behavior that protect us all from many types of illegal conduct.
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Study: How Consumer Financial Class Actions Help and Protect Americans
July 20, 2017
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Stable Losses Unstable Rates 2016 PDF
November 21, 2016
Summary:
Medical malpractice premiums and claims are at historic lows.
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Premium Deceit 2016: The Failure of "Tort Reform" To Cut Insurance Prices
November 21, 2016
Summary:
Study finds that "tort reforms" do not reduce insurance rates.
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PDF: The New Patient Compensation System–Government Harming Patients
January 21, 2016
Summary:
Detailed critique of a new proposal that would do away with judges and juries in medical malpractice cases, replaced by a new, centralized government agency called the Patient
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Briefing Book: Tort Litigation By The Numbers
January 11, 2016
Summary:
All the latest statistics about tort litigation, verdicts, and who's really using the civil courts in America.
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Backgrounder: The Implausible Garlock Asbestos Decision
April 9, 2014
Summary:
This backgrounder explains how the Garlock asbestos decision contradicts credible scientists, impartial scientific research groups, judges and juries in thousands of other asbestos cases, and Garlock itself.
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White Paper: America’s Unaccountable Generic Drug Industry, Executive Summary: America’s Unaccountable Generic Drug Industry
December 10, 2013
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Study: Exposing Medical Myths: "Caps" and Physician Supply
August 21, 2013
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White Paper: Cutting Classes: The Slow Demise of Class Actions in America
May 7, 2013
Summary:
Class action lawsuits are one of the most important tools that citizens have to protect their rights but, between legislative acts and recent Supreme Court decisions, class actions have been severely limited and, in some areas, are headed for extinction.
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White Paper: Courthouse Cornerstone: Contingency Fees and Their Importance for Everyday Americans
January 31, 2013
Summary:
The contingency fee system performs an integral function, providing people in need with attorneys and keeping meritless cases from clogging our courts.
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Georgia's Patient Compensation System -- A New State Agency That Will Harm Patients
December 4, 2012
Summary:
Detailed critique of a new Georgia proposal that would do away with the tort system in medical malpractice cases, replacing it with a biased administrative structure.
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White Paper: Our Fatal Food Attraction: Regulatory Failures and the Civil Justice System
March 21, 2012
Summary:
Examines how some government food safety functions have been privatized, leading to foodborne illness outbreaks, and how civil lawsuits can step in to help where government has failed.
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Repeat Offenders: How the Insurance Industry Manufactures Crises and Harms America
December 15, 2011
Summary:
The first definitive expose of 35 years of manufactured insurance crises. So far there have been three. We document how this industry is now creating a fourth.
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White Paper: Repeating a Tragic Blunder: Wisconsin's Drug and Device Immunity Bill
October 24, 2011
Summary:
Examines the impact of Wisconsin's drug and device immunity proposal in light of Michigan's experience.
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White Paper: Headline Blues: Civil Justice In The Age of New Media
October 19, 2011
Summary:
Finds that news coverage of civil jury verdicts fails to provide an accurate picture of the civil justice system and that certain new media trends are making the situation worse.
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White Paper: What You Need To Know About... Punitive Damages
September 15, 2011
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White Paper: What You Need to Know About... Punitive Damages
September 12, 2011
Summary:
Debunks many common myths about punitive damages and shows how important they are for protecting the public health and safety.
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White Paper: Medical Malpractice in Sweden and New Zealand: Should Their Systems Be Replicated Here?
July 18, 2011
Summary:
Exposes Sweden's and New Zealand's no-fault systems for medical malpractice cases and shows why they cannot and should not be replicated in the United States.
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Study: Calling Their Bluff; Fraud and "Defensive Medicine"
January 5, 2011
Summary:
This report calls the bluff on those claiming that doctors routinely order unnecessary tests or procedures for the purpose of “lawsuit avoidance,” so-called “defensive medicine.”
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White Paper: AMERICA’S WORST TOP MODEL; ALEC’s Model Civil Justice Legislation
September 21, 2010
Summary:
Explores the recent work of the right-wing, corporate-sponsored, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and its Civil Justice Task Force priorities over the last three years.
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Study: BIGGEST BANG FOR THE BUCK: Washington’s State-Run Workers Compensation System
September 14, 2010
Summary:
Finds that Washington State's insurance industry-sponored initiative, I-1082, would increase costs, reduce benefits.
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White Paper: Legal Abandon – How Limiting Lawsuits Led To The Financial Collapse And What To Do About It
February 17, 2010
Summary:
Explores how the weakening of investors’ and borrowers’ legal rights since the 1990s have compounded deregulation and lax regulatory enforcement to lead to the recent economic collapse.
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Towers Perrin: "Grade F" For Fantastically Inflated "Tort Cost" Report
January 28, 2010
Summary:
Debunks Towers Perrin Highly-Exaggerated "Tort Cost" Numbers.
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White Paper: Corporate Lawbreaking and Civil Justice: The Last Line of Defense
October 20, 2009
Summary:
The importance of the civil justice system in cases of corporate lawbreaking.
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Study: True Risk: Medical Liability, Malpractice Insurance and Health Care
July 22, 2009
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Study: HEART SICK - Hazardous Heart Devices and the Importance of Litigation
March 30, 2009
Summary:
Finds that medical devices for the heart have caused thousands of needless injuries and deaths, yet patients currently have no legal recourse against reckless medical device manufacturers.
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White Paper: Bad Inheritance; A Look at Bush's Civil Justice Legacy Through the Supreme Court's Current Term
January 5, 2009
Summary:
This report examines the troubling activism by the current U.S. Supreme Court to restrict litigation against reckless corporations in the areas of preemption (i.e., immunity), punitive damages, judicial recusal, mandatory binding arbitration, environmenta
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Study: THE BITTEREST PILL – How Drug Companies Fail To Protect Women and How Lawsuits Save Their Lives
August 11, 2008
Summary:
Finds that many of this country’s dangerous government-approved drugs and devices have been marketed specifically for women and that these products were removed or made safer only after women filed lawsuits.
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White Paper: Kids N' Safe Play: Regulation, Litigation and Playground Safety
August 5, 2008
Summary:
Refutes views of corporate groups to show that recent playground development with safer shapes and materials has not only allowed playgrounds to be fun and interesting for kids, but also safer and less likely to send a child to the hospital.
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Executive Summary: "Tort Reforms" Are Racially Discriminatory
July 4, 2008
Summary:
Groundbreaking law review article exposes the racial prejudice lurking behind the so-called “tort reform” movement, focusing on five major areas where the legal rights of minorities are being challenged.
Related Materials
White Paper: State Attorneys General: The People's Champion
March 25, 2008
Summary:
Examines why state Attorneys General are among our country’s most important public advocates and exposes unfair, misleading assaults by corporate special interests.
Related Materials
Study: A Tragic Blunder: Michigan’s Drug Industry Immunity Law
February 28, 2008
Summary:
Discusses Michigan's unprecedented law that prevents residents harmed by dangerous drugs from gaining access to the civil justice system, which has been devastating for Michiganders while failing to accomplish any promised economic benefits for the state.
Related Materials
Study: How the Civil Justice System Protects Environmental Health
October 15, 2007
Summary:
Everyone should have the right to take action in court when their own health and the welfare of their own communities are at stake, and polluters should be held accountable for the harm they cause to ordinary people.
Related Materials
Study: Deadly Trade: Construction Safety in Illinois Since Repeal of the Structural Work Act
October 9, 2007
Summary:
Exposes the hazardous and deadly nature of the construction industry in Illinois since the elimination of a safety law more than 10 years ago.
Related Materials
Why Health Courts are Unconstitutional
September 30, 2007
Summary:
Examines current administrative compensation schemes and alternative tribunals and exposes the important ways health courts would differ from them. These differences will make the health courts unconstitutional under most state constitutions.
Related Materials
White Paper: Corporate Empowerment and the Decline of Public Safety
August 14, 2007
Summary:
Explores how the corporate take-over of federal agencies and preemption of legal rights has hurt the public health and safety.
Related Materials
The Secret Chamber - The Inner Workings of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Hijacking of an Election
July 15, 2006
Summary:
This report shows how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce provides substantial financial and strategic assistance to local front groups to influence state elections, including funding major media buys to smear local candidates.
Related Materials
Workers' Compensation - A Cautionary Tale - National
June 9, 2006
Summary:
Workers’ compensation programs throughout the country have been devastating for injured workers, leaving them to contend with an adversarial bureaucracy and inadequate benefits that render many destitute.
Related Materials
Workers' Compensation - A Cautionary Tale - California
June 9, 2006
Summary:
Workers’ compensation programs throughout the country have been devastating for injured workers, leaving them to contend with an adversarial bureaucracy and inadequate benefits that render many destitute.
Related Materials
Workers' Compensation - A Cautionary Tale - Connecticut
June 9, 2006
Summary:
Workers’ compensation programs throughout the country have been devastating for injured workers, leaving them to contend with an adversarial bureaucracy and inadequate benefits that render many destitute.
Related Materials
Workers' Compensation - A Cautionary Tale - Georgia
June 9, 2006
Summary:
Workers’ compensation programs throughout the country have been devastating for injured workers, leaving them to contend with an adversarial bureaucracy and inadequate benefits that render many destitute.
Related Materials
Workers' Compensation - A Cautionary Tale - Missouri
June 9, 2006
Summary:
Workers’ compensation programs throughout the country have been devastating for injured workers, leaving them to contend with an adversarial bureaucracy and inadequate benefits that render many destitute.
Related Materials
Workers' Compensation - A Cautionary Tale - New York
June 9, 2006
Summary:
Workers’ compensation programs throughout the country have been devastating for injured workers, leaving them to contend with an adversarial bureaucracy and inadequate benefits that render many destitute.
Related Materials
Workers' Compensation - A Cautionary Tale - Kansas
June 9, 2006
Summary:
Workers’ compensation programs throughout the country have been devastating for injured workers, leaving them to contend with an adversarial bureaucracy and inadequate benefits that render many destitute.
Related Materials
South Florida - "HellHole" Fiction
February 22, 2006
Summary:
This report describes the major flaws in the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) “Judicial Hellhole” report, presents a wealth of contradictory information, and concludes that ATRA has severely misled Florida’s lawmakers and the public with this repor
Related Materials
Study: An Analysis of the Claims Payments and Performance of Physicians Insurance a Mutual Company
November 1, 2005
Summary:
This report analyzes the claims payments and performance of Physicians Insurance based on the Annual Statements it has filed with the Washington Office of Insurance Commissioner during the last 10 years and the additional statement it has filed covering t
Related Materials
White Paper: Mandatory Binding Arbitration: Civil Injustice By Corporate America
August 29, 2005
Summary:
Examines how mandatory binding arbitration hurts employees, consumers and patients.
Related Materials
Study: Falling Claims and Rising Premiums in the Medical Malpractice Insurance Industry
July 1, 2005
Summary:
This study details how medical malpractice insurance rates for doctors have skyrocketed in recent years even though, claim payments are down.
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White Paper: Chamber of Horrors
February 16, 2005
Summary:
Explores the influence of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the outcome of the 2004 elections.
Related Materials
Top 10 Zany Immunity Law Awards, 2004
December 10, 2004
Related Materials
White Paper: Small Business and “Tort Reform”: Much Ado About Nothing
July 20, 2004
Summary:
Dispels many myths about the need for "tort reform" among the small business community.
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Study: “Tort Reform” and Racial Prejudice: A Troublesome Connection
March 3, 2004
Related Materials
White Paper: Hypocrites of “Tort Reform”: Doctors and Organized Medicine
October 6, 2003
Summary:
Examines doctors and medical societies that run to court when they've been harmed, as well as doctors who make more per year than what they want to give patients for a lifetime of suffering.
Related Materials
White Paper: Where's the Crisis? Has America Been Duped by the AMA?
April 9, 2003
Summary:
Refutes American Medical Association claims of “crisis” by examining contradictory courtroom and medical evidence in 18 states.
Related Materials
Stable Losses/Unstable Rates State Report: Illinois
February 1, 2003
Summary:
Shows Illinois medical malpractice claims have been stable for 30 years, but premiums gyrate in sync with economy and investment income.
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White Paper: The Money Vultures
January 24, 2003
Summary:
Documents the malfeasance of the insurance industry and its close ties to President Bush and Congress.
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White Paper: Not in My Backyard II: The High-Tech Hypocrites of “Tort Reform”
April 22, 2002
Summary:
Examines how high-tech companies use the courts while pushing to restrict lawsuits by consumers.
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White Paper: Shakedown: How the Insurance Industry Exploits a Nation in Times of Crisis
April 9, 2002
Summary:
Exposes how the insurance industry uses its power over the U.S. economy to promote a legislative agenda that bilks U.S. taxpayers and abolishes consumer's rights.
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Study: Premium Deceit: The Failure of "Tort Reform" to Cut Insurance Prices
February 1, 2002
Summary:
This study examines insurance rates over the last 14 years in every state in the country, and finds there to be no correlation between enactment of tort reforms and insurance rates.
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Restoring Shattered Lives: A Primer on War, Terrorism and the U.S. Civil Justice System
November 1, 2001
Summary:
An examination of the civil justice system and terrorism, war crimes and human rights violations that includes 60 completed and pending cases involving circumstances relevant to today’s world situation.
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White Paper: Survey Says ... “Tort Reform” Not a Priority for Businesses
April 17, 2001
Summary:
Dispels myths about the real importance of "tort reform" to the business community.
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White Paper: Reading Between the Headlines: The Media and Jury Verdicts
January 2, 2001
Summary:
Analyzes how the media's reporting of jury verdicts sometimes perpetuates the misperception that our civil jury system is in a state of emergency. (2001)
Related Materials
White Paper: Not in My Backyard: The Hypocrites of “Tort Reform”
December 4, 2000
Summary:
Examines individuals and corporations that have sued sometimes for millions of dollars while at the same time championing damage caps and other severe liability restrictions for others.
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The CALA Files: The Secret Campaign by Big Tobacco and Other Major Industries to Take Away Your Rights
August 3, 2000
Summary:
This study identifies corporations, national lobbying groups & political consulting firms behind local Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) groups, and exposes how the tobacco industry has concealed its leading role to preserve CALA's credibility.
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