Keeping Your Courthouse Doors

OPEN.

US Chamber of Commerce

…is NOT Your Friend.

US Chamber of Commerce

“By far, The largest attack campaign against Democrats and Trial Lawyers is being

waged by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a trade association organized as a 501(c)(6)

that can raise and spend unlimited funds without ever disclosing any of its donors.”

- Politico, October, 2010

US Chamber of Commerce

“Previously, it has been reported that foreign firms like Dow Chemical, BP, Shell Oil, and Siemens are active members

of the Chamber. Of course, because the Chamber successfully lobbied to kill campaign finance reforms aimed at establishing transparency, the Chamber does not have to reveal any of the funding for its ad campaigns. Dues-

paying members of the Chamber could potentially be sending additional funds this year to help fund it’s missions

revolving around legal reform.”

- Think Progress 2010

US Chamber of Commerce“…for specific advocacy or advertising campaigns,

corporations can hide behind the label of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and give additional money. Last year,

alongside their regular dues, health insurance companies like Aetna secretly funneled up to $20 million to the

Chamber for attack ads aimed at killing pharmaceutical litigation.”

“…recently, Politico reported that News Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, gave an extra $1 million to the Chamber for its election season attack campaign...”

- Think Progress, 2011

US Chamber of Commerce

Simply Put…

The Chamber’s spending has dwarfed every other issue group and most political party

candidate committee spending.

As a lobbying group, they are second to none.

2010 Political Activity

• The chamber dispersed 215 political operatives to 31 states, mailed 3.7 million letters to targeted voters, made 5.6 million phone calls and sent 30 million e-mails to persuade pro-business voters to go to the polls.

• The results were impressive. The Institute for Legal Reform won 15 of the 16 state Supreme Court and attorney general races it targeted.

• The chamber's candidates also prevailed in 21 of the 28 House seats and in seven of the nine Senate races it engaged significantly.

Coon: Public Enemy #1

Who IS The Chamber?

The Chamber’s 2013 Board of Directors• Ted Mathas

Chairman, President & CEONew York Life Insurance Company

• David MuhlendorfCEO/PresidentPaper and Chemical Supply Company

• Randal K. QuarlesManaging DirectorThe Carlyle Group

• Jeffrey K. RagethVice President, Business Affairs3M

• James A. SquiresExecutive Vice President, Norfolk Southern Railroad Corp.

• Phillip D. BradySenior Vice President, Phillips 66 Company

• Ken W. ColeSenior Vice President, Pfizer, Inc.

• Thomas A. GottschalkOf CounselKirkland & Ellis LLP

• David E. KeplerExecutive Vice President, The Dow Chemical Company

• James E. RogersChairman, President and CEODuke Energy Corp.

Director of the Month

• The Carlyle Group--- The Corporate Overlord– The Iron Triangle where Politics, Big Business and

Military Intersect– 176 Billion Dollar Investment Fund– Board is a who’s who of Presidents and Prime

Ministers from around the globe– Board member Melvin Paisley was responsible for

awarding Navy Contracts to companies. He later plead guilty in a pentagon corruption scandal

– Notable members are the Saudi Royal, Bin Laden (Osama’s brother Shafiq) and Bush Family

Thomas J. Donohue• Thomas J. Donohue is president and

CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation representing 3 million companies, associations, state and local chambers, and American Chambers of Commerce abroad. Since assuming his position in 1997, Donohue has built the Chamber into a lobbying and political force that is second to none

• Donohue established the Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), which has won significant legal reforms in the courts, at the state and federal levels, and in elections for state attorneys general and Supreme Court judges

Thomas J. Donohue

• Thomas Donohue, says business merely is trying to even the score with trial lawyers. “Now the money is rolling in from drug companies, heavy manufacturers, large retailers, insurance companies, even banks," he declares.

• Donohue recently started the Workforce Freedom Initiative – a.k.a. his “Union Busting” program.

Can It Get Worse?

In 2003, Tom Donohue and the US Chamber of Commerce Created:

The Institute of Legal Reform

With a budget of:

Over 50 million dollars per year!“The main objective of the ILR was to battle the country’s

trial lawyers, and they spend over $50 million a year doing

just that. A top the ILR’s agenda was swaying public opinionand push for large-scale tort reform across the nation to help insulate and protect its members from paying out damages in civil claims.” - Politico

The ILR in action…

Lisa Rickard“My mission is aimed at changing the legalculture that has resulted in our nation'slitigation explosion.”

- Lisa Rickard

Recently promoted to Executive VP of USChamber of Commerce AND President ofInstitute of Legal Reform

As VP of the CoC Rickard was placed over the work force intiative:

THE UNION BUSTING WING OF THE CHAMBER

Lisa RickardGoes from Dow Chemical (makers of Napalm,

Agent Orange)…

…to being the first President of the Institute of Legal Reform in 2003.

Oddly, at the same time that:

a) Dow Chemcial is facing mega-millions of dollars in losses and liabilities

b) Dow Chemical makes significant contribution to the Chamber of Commerce

Oh wait, there’s more.

The Record“The Record’s roots date back to 2004 when the Chamber

of Commerce launched its Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), headed by Lisa Rickard, a lobbyist for the Dow Chemical Company.

The Record

“Among the many tactics used by the ILR was a massive public relations campaign. Enter the Record. The Record was first published in Madison County, Illinois. At the time, Dow Chemical and Union Carbide were facing a myriad of law suits over asbestos exposure from their plants. Rickard was pulled directly from Dow Chemical and immediately directed the new ILR with its first item of business to remove costly asbestos cases off the legal landscape by publishing an anti-law suit newspaper (The Record) to sway the public and potential jury members in the community.”

The Record

“Stanton Anderson, Chief Legal Officer for the Chamber and part-owner of the Record, met with Brian Timpone, a known Republican operative and co-owner of a small chain of community newspapers in Illinois. Timpone agreed to become the Record’s publisher with the Chamber as his silent benefactor. The Chamber made an initial investment of $200,000 to get the publication off the ground. The Madison Record began with a weekly circulation of 6,000 copies.”

The Record

Stanton Anderson His Own Words

We keep the Chamber’s involvement a secret so they (the chamber) will not be

traced back

- The Washington Post 2004 article, Advocacy Groups blur Media lines

The Record

Brian Timpone His Own Words

I am a biased guy. I am a Republican- The Washington Post 2004 article,

Advocacy Groups blur Media lines

The Record

The Record’s Distribution includes “Judicial Hell Holes” such as:

Madison county, West Virginia, Southeast Texas, Louisiana Pennsylvania and A Consumer Friendly Jurisdiction near you.

The Record is widely distributed free of charge to the local communities, including inside the courthouse, encouraging potential jurors to thumb through the paper as they wait to be called to trial or during recess in the midst of deciding a civil case.

The Record“The Record also gets disseminated to the masses in heavily

optimized “news” websites – that appear to many to be highly credible sources of news information.

Many of the wire services (ie: Associate Press, etc.) pick up the stories generated by the Record and re-distribute to the mainstream media. (ie: The Wall Street Journal)

Worse, the Record pays $$$ to be an “insert” in the primary newspaper in each area they enter (ie: in Beaumont, TX, they are distributed by the Beaumont Enterprise) and appears indistinguishable and thus their “fiction” is seemingly “endorsed” by the paper as entirely credible.

The Record

• 2012 CSPAN-- The National Press Club debate with Timpone of the Record and their benefactor, the United State’s Chamber of Commerce, contended that the failure to openly communicate their agenda is unethical.– The American Society of Business Publishing

Editors, Are Interest Groups Blurring Media Lines

The Pennsylvania RecordIn Their Own Words

The Newest Record introduces itself on line at www.pennrecord.com:

Many accomplished local plaintiffs’ attorneys and erstwhile activists would argue that, in fact, they are the great

leaders of their time, holding that Pennsylvania has it right and everyone

else has it wrong.

The Pennsylvania Record:In Their Own Words

On the flipside, many who drive this country’s economic engine– small

businessmen, medical professionals and corporate executives– argue the opposite.

They hold that plaintiffs’ attorneys use frivolous lawsuits to game the system and pillage private property. If every state were like ours, they say, America would be out

of business.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

2007

CONSERVATIVE MEDIA ICON

RUPERT MURDOCH

PURCHASES THE JOURNAL

WHAT CAN HAPPEN?

The Wall Street Journal

• March 10, 2013 Dionne Searcy As Asbestos Claims Rises So Do Worries about Fraud.

• WSJ op-ed for the CoC timed for release on eve F.A.C.T. hearings– Most of the research product was from the

various Records and Chamber related propaganda outlets

• Cites numerous questionable claims.– BCA case Baker

So… (10 years later)

where are we today?

TIMES CHANGE

We have gone from

F.A.I.R.

To

F.A.C.T

The Infamous F.A.C.T. Bill

The Infamous F.A.C.T Bill

• HR 982 Furthering Asbestos Transparency Act Filed March 2013 By Blake Farenthold

• Proponents Claim It will Eliminate “Fraudulent Claims”

WE KNOW BETTER

The Infamous F.A.C.T. BillThe following is a statement from American Association for

Justice (AAJ) CEO Linda Lipsen in response to the reintroduction of H.R. 982, the so-called "Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act of 2013:"

"It is offensive that the same corporations that hid the dangers of asbestos from the public for decades are now turning to Congress and asking for "transparency" in order

to avoid accountability. "This is one of many reused efforts by the House Judiciary Committee to protect negligent corporations by eliminating

accountability. "Corporations that knowingly kill and injure Americans

should be held fully accountable, not granted a handout from Congress."

INFAMOUS F.A.C.T. BILL

• Going to Mark up next week

• Gov Trak predicts that the bill has less than 2 Percent chance of passing

STATE LEGISLATION

THESE GUYS WON’T QUIT

AND

WE SHOULDN’T EITHER

STATE F.A.C.T. ACTS

• The State and Federal Acts were the Brain Child of the American Legislative Executive Counsel aka ALEC

• Alec was founded in 1975 by Henry Hyde of Impeachment fame. Mr Hyde later resigned his US Senate seat after a torrid affair with a Mrs. Snodgrass. The relationship didn’t end until Mr Snodgrass confronted him.

ALEC: Caveman’s Best Friend

• ALEC’S own web site states that the organization espouses Paleo Conservatism.

• It Claims Richard Nixon and William Buckley to be the intellectual leaders of the organization.

• Today the Organization is under the Koch Family Umbrella of benefactors (Koch industries is attempting to buy 8 daily papers in places such as LA and Chicago)

Getting Back to the States

• Ohio F.A.C.T. Bill HB 380- Passed 12/20/12

• Wisconsin FACT Bill passed State Assembly May 10, 2013

• Pennsylvania House Bill 1150 pending

• West Virginia FACT Bill SB 43 failed in 2011

Getting Back to the States

• Louisiana F.A.C.T. Bill HB 477/ SB 429- Pending on death bed

• North Carolina F.A.C.T. Bill HB 415- Pending

• Illinois F.A.C.T. Bill 153- Sent back to the Rules Committee March 22, 2013

• Oklahoma FACT Bill SB 403- Sent to the Governor May 2, 2013

Getting Back to the States

• Texas HB 1325 dismissing inactive docket cases: Sent to Governor May 13- Expected to sign.

Enter Judge Ableman F.A.C.T. Proponent

“Remember Peggy Ableman, the judge who

ordered lawyers to attend a course on

remedial civility in their “jammies”? She’s

now at McCarter & English, so mind your

Manners”

- American Lawyer Magazine

While still a Judge, Ableman was a big fan of the Chamber and a huge, very vocal advocate for the FACT Bill….all while she was ordering Attorneys to attend “slumber parties” in their pajamas.

Judge Ableman: It’s Official

Toothbrushes Teddy Bears andJammies

Excessively Large Attorneys Fees?

Judge Ableman – Connect The Dots.

Meanwhile, as a judge, she was giving the majority of her

Mediation work to McCarter & English.

Once retired from the bench, she heads over to McCarter

& English for a cushy job – and guess who their

clients have been?

…. Dow Chemical, Dow Corning and Foster Wheeler.

(How is that for pay back)

Are We

Minutemen

Or

Militia

So…here’s a couple shots for the good guys…

What Now?

• We Can Organize

• We Can Respond

• We Can Prepare

• We Can Attack

• We Can Win

Examples

• Long term outreach with trade unions, consumer advocacy groups, and other special interest groups.

• Long term strategic planning by an organized Plaintiffs Asbestos Bar in conjunction with AAJ and state trial bars.

• Public Service Announcements included in advertising media.