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. Duespaying 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
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Phillip D. Brady
Senior Vice President,
Phillips 66 Company
Ken W. Cole
Senior Vice President,
Pfizer, Inc.
Thomas A. Gottschalk
Of Counsel
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
David E. Kepler
Executive Vice President,
The Dow Chemical Company
James E. Rogers
Chairman, President and CEO
Duke Energy Corp.
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Ted Mathas
Chairman, President & CEO
New York Life Insurance Company
David Muhlendorf
CEO/President
Paper and Chemical Supply Company
Randal K. Quarles
Managing Director
The Carlyle Group
Jeffrey K. Rageth
Vice President, Business Affairs
3M
James A. Squires
Executive Vice President,
Norfolk Southern Railroad 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 legal
culture that has resulted in our nation's
litigation explosion.”
- Lisa Rickard
Recently promoted to Executive VP of US
Chamber of Commerce AND President of
Institute of Legal Reform
As VP of the CoC Rickard was placed over the
work force intiative:
THE UNION BUSTING WING OF THE
CHAMBER
Lisa Rickard
Goes 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 Record
In 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. Bill
The 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 429Pending on death bed
• North Carolina F.A.C.T. Bill HB 415Pending
• 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 13Expected 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 and
Jammies
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?
•
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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.