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American Tort Reform Association
The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to reforming the civil justice system and advocating for tort reform. It was founded in 1986 by the American Council of Engineering Companies and was joined shortly thereafter by the American Medical Association. ATRA's members are largely Fortune 500 companies. Although sponsored by major industries, ATRA has worked hard to present a dramatically different public image of itself, claiming to represent small businesses and average citizens. The ATRA supports an agenda to increase public awareness of, and suggest changes in, the manner in which tort litigation is conducted in the United States. Some of these proposed changes would effectively limit the ability of tort plaintiffs to recover against tortfeasors. Examples include: *Limitations on liability for medical malpractice *Abolition of the rule of joint and several liability *Abolition of the collateral source doctrine *Limitatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tort Reform
Tort reform refers to changes in the civil justice system in common law countries that aim to reduce the ability of plaintiffs to bring tort litigation (particularly actions for negligence) or to reduce damages they can receive. Such changes are generally justified under the grounds that litigation is an inefficient means to compensate plaintiffs; that tort law permits frivolous or otherwise undesirable litigation to crowd the court system; or that the fear of litigation can serve to curtail innovation, raise the cost of consumer goods or insurance premiums for suppliers of services (e.g. medical malpractice insurance), and increase legal costs for businesses. Tort reform has primarily been prominent in common law jurisdictions, where criticism of judge-made rules regarding tort actions manifests in calls for statutory reform by the legislature. Background Tort actions are civil claims for actions that cause a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Expert Testimony
An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as an expert. The judge may consider the witness's specialized (scientific, technical or other) opinion about evidence or about facts before the court within the expert's area of expertise, to be referred to as an "expert opinion". Expert witnesses may also deliver "expert evidence" within the area of their expertise. Their testimony may be rebutted by testimony from other experts or by other evidence or facts. History The forensic expert practice is an ancient profession. For example, in ancient Babylonia, midwives were used as experts in determining pregnancy, virginity and female fertility. Similarly, the Roman Empire recognized midwives, handwriting experts and land surveyors as legal experts. The codified use of expert witnesses and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Center For Charitable Statistics
The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is a clearing house for information about the nonprofit sector of the U.S. economy. The National Center for Charitable Statistics builds national, state, and regional databases and develops standards for reporting on the activities of all tax-exempt organizations. Services The National Center for Charitable Statistics collects data on charities in the U.S. and shares this data with the public. The National Center for Charitable Statistics maintains a free online directory of charities, listed by mission and location. When the Electronic Data Initiative for Nonprofits Coalition was formed in 2002, the National Center for Charitable Statistics advised the group in furtherance of the goal of integrated federal and state electronic reporting and dissemination of data on nonprofit organizations. GuideStar works with the National Center for Charitable Statistics to get each Form 990 filed by a nonprofit organization online and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John H
John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Epistle of John, often shortened to 2 John * Third Epistle of John, often shortened to 3 John People * John the Baptist (died c. AD 30), regarded as a prophet and the forerunner of Jesus Christ * John the Apostle (lived c. AD 30), one of the twelve apostles of Jesus * John the Evangelist, assigned author of the Fourth Gospel, once identified with the Apostle * John of Patmos, also known as John the Divine or John the Revelator, the author of the Book of Revelation, once identified with the Apostle * John the Presbyter, a figure either identified with or distinguished from the Apostle, the Evangelist and John of Patmos Other people with the given name Religious figures * John, father of Andrew the Apostle and Saint Peter * Pope Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Pryor
William Holcombe Pryor Jr. (born April 26, 1962) is an American lawyer serving as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is a former commissioner of the United States Sentencing Commission. Previously, he was the attorney general of Alabama, from 1997 to 2004. Background Pryor was born in 1962 in Mobile, Alabama, the son of William Holcombe Pryor and Laura Louise Bowles. Pryor was raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic family. He and his siblings attended McGill–Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile. Pryor attended Northeast Louisiana University, now University of Louisiana at Monroe on a band scholarship, and graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts '' magna cum laude''. He then attended Tulane University Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the ''Tulane Law Review''. He graduated in 1987 with a Juris Doctor ''magna cum laude''. Legal career After law school, Pryor served as a law clerk to judge John Minor Wisdom of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Coverdell
Paul Douglas Coverdell (January 20, 1939 – July 18, 2000) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Georgia, elected for the first time in 1992 and re-elected in 1998, and director of the Peace Corps from 1989 until 1991. Coverdell died from a cerebral hemorrhage in Atlanta, Georgia in 2000 while serving in the United States Senate. He was a member of the Republican Party. Early life Coverdell was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1939 and lived much of his childhood in the Midwest. Coverdell graduated from Lee's Summit High School in Lees Summit, Missouri. and went on to graduate from the University of Missouri in 1961 with a degree in journalism. While in college, Coverdell was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.''Grand Catalogue of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity - Twelfth Edition'', p.69: Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company, 1985. Coverdell joined the Army in 1962 and served as a captain in Okinawa, Taiwan, and Korea. After completing his service ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Olson
Walter K. Olson (born 1954) is an author and blogger who writes mostly about legal subjects, including tort reform. Olson is a senior fellow of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C. Formerly, Olson was associated with the Manhattan Institute in New York City. He founded several websites, including the Manhattan Institute's scholarly PointOfLaw.com, and continues to run Overlawyered.com, a more popularly oriented website focusing on tort reform and alleged overreaching by lawyers. He has published four books on the American litigation system: ''The Litigation Explosion'', ''The Excuse Factory'', ''The Rule of Lawyers'', and most recently ''Schools for Misrule''. Olson is a Republican. The Washington Post has dubbed Olson an "intellectual guru of tort reform." He has testified to Congress numerous times, and has written articles for publications such as ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''Reason'', ''Reader's Digest'', and ''The New York Times''. His work is o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Ross (state Senator)
Charlie Ross is an American politician and attorney who lives in Brandon, Mississippi. He served as Senator from District 20 in the Mississippi Senate until 2007. District 20 comprises parts of Madison and Rankin Counties. Ross was first elected to the Senate in 1997 after serving as the representative from District 59 in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Prior to his legislative service, he served as the Chairman of the Rankin County Republican Executive Committee. In 2008, Ross ran for Congress in Mississippi's 3rd congressional district, but was defeated in the primary by Rankin County Republican Chairman Gregg Harper. Education and military service Ross grew up and attended high school in Eupora, Webster County, Mississippi. Ross is a 1978 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, with a B.S. in economics. After the Academy, he served on active duty as a fighter interceptor pilot. In 1991, he was activated and served as a C-141 pilot during Operation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judicial Hellhole
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law in legal cases. Definition The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets, defends, and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary can also be thought of as the mechanism for the resolution of disputes. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the judiciary generally does not make statutory law (which is the responsibility of the legislature) or enforce law (which is the responsibility of the executive), but rather interprets, defends, and applies the law to the facts of each case. However, in some countries the judiciary does make common law. In many jurisdictions the judicial branch has the power to change laws through the process of judicial review. Courts with judicial review power may annul the laws and r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attorney Misconduct
Attorney misconduct is unethical or illegal conduct by an attorney. Attorney misconduct may include: conflict of interest, overbilling, refusing to represent a client for political or professional motives, false or misleading statements, knowingly accepting worthless lawsuits, hiding evidence, abandoning a client, failing to disclose all relevant facts, arguing a position while neglecting to disclose prior law which might counter the argument, or having sex with a client. The advent of electronic record-keeping and "e-discovery" has also resulted in a record number of attorney sanctions for a range of abuses from failure to produce to the leaking of sealed documents. In a case highlighting such abuses, in 2007 plaintiffs in a pharmaceutical lawsuit were found to conspire with attorneys and journalists to publicize protected discovery documents defying a judge's protective order. Legal malpractice is a separate concept such as when an attorney fails to adequately, professionally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgment (law), judgment. Juries developed in England during the Middle Ages and are a hallmark of the English common law system. As such, they are used by the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and other countries whose legal systems were derived from the British Empire. But most other countries use variations of the European Civil law (legal system), civil law or Islamic sharia, sharia law systems, in which juries are not generally used. Most trial juries are "petit juries", and usually consist of twelve people. Historically, a larger jury known as a grand jury was used to investigate potential crimes and render indictments against suspects. All common law countries except the United States and Liberia hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regulation Through Litigation
Regulation through litigation refers to changes in society (particularly those that affect industries) brought about by litigation, rather than legislation or self-regulation. Some laws have " private attorney general" provisions that permit individuals to file suit in court to vindicate important rights. Many laws for addressing consumer protection, civil rights and employment discrimination provide incentives for the private enforcement of laws by allowing the prevailing party to recover a reasonable attorney's fee. Regulation through litigation may at times overlap with judicial activism. Criticism Critics include members of industry and public-service professions; some argue that as potential defendants, their opposition is based more in self-interest than in policy concerns. Of particular concern is the use of the attorney general office to make policy, especially when that policy contradicts the policy of the chief executive. For example, many criticized Mississippi A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
