From the
Executive Director Stuart Zanville
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
Changing the public’s perception of trial lawyers A “not-so-new” secret weapon to move public opinion
as Executive Director of Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles and my eighth year writing a monthly column for the Advocate. Although much is different since that first year, I’m beginning to think it’s like the old proverb says: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. CAALA continues to be a dynamic,
Stuart Zanville CAALA
From the
vibrant association with strong member- ship and a growing reputation as the nation’s most successful local association of trial lawyers. I’m very proud and not just a little bit humbled to be the CEO of such a great organization. CAALA still features the best trial
Executive Director
Stuart Zanville CAALA
lawyers in the country, both young and old, and there’s still passion among the members for what they do and what they believe in. But some things haven’t changed for
Stuart Zanville
the better. I don’t have to tell you how the downturn in the economy has affect- ed CAALA’s members; you live with it every day.
From the This month, I begin my seventh yearExecutive Director From the
ensure they are not held accountable when they do things that are wrong, harmful or illegal. Trial lawyers are still the last line of
defense to protect ordinary people from unsafe products, unsafe medicine and unfair business practices. Just like their brother and sister trial
lawyers were eight years ago, passionate CAALA members and leaders like Mike Alder, Arash Homampour, Chris Ardalan and Richard Geringer are outraged when they see billboards or hear radio com- mercials funded by anti-consumer groups that attack the civil justice system and the things they and every CAALA member stand for and believe in. I hear their frustration when they
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
Challenging political climate You also know that the political climate
is much more challenging than it was eight years ago. As bad as we thought things were under George Bush, it’s far worse today, even with a Democrat in the White House. And as the rhetoric from radically conserva- tive, pro-business Republicans and Tea Party activists continues to grow, so do the attacks on trial lawyers and the injured and harmed people they represent. The attacks are ongoing, and so is
the frustration of CAALA members. But this isn’t a lot different than eight years ago when the assault on trial lawyers came from Bush cronies like Karl Rove and the other progenitors of the so- called tort reform movement. The sham organizations that Rove
helped create still raise corporate funds to attack trial lawyers and the civil justice system; and powerful corporations spend incomprehensible amounts of money to
Executive Director By Stuart Zanville
describe the polluted jury pools they deal with and the intransigent attitudes of insurance companies that refuse to fairly compensate injured claimants. I wish there was a silver bullet or a magic solu- tion to reverse the public’s negative per- ception of the civil justice system; that’s the result of billions of dollars being spent over the past 35-years by anti-consumer groups and corporate interests. But, unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer. One strategy is to elect politicians
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
who believe in consumers and the civil justice system. You can do this by sup- porting CAALA’s sister trial lawyer associ- ations CAOC and AAJ. They are respon- sible for the political and legislative advocacy in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. Show your support by joining these associations in addition to maintaining your membership in CAALA. You can also connect with legislators by joining CAALA’s Government Relations Committee. The 2012 chairpersons are Bill Karns and Kathryn Trepinski.
The secret weapon While there isn’t an easy way to
change public perception, there is, how- ever, a secret weapon. That would be you. Eight years ago I wrote in a column that “One way for our members to
change the public perception of con- sumer attorneys is to make public speak- ing appearances whenever possible.” My recommendation then was that each CAALA member should identify the serv- ice clubs, grassroots organizations or chambers of commerce in their own com- munity, and offer to speak about legal issues and the civil justice system. While this sounds daunting for some
CAALA members, once you’ve done a speech or two you’ll know exactly what to expect from an audience. You will also have the opportunity to show the audi- ence who you are, what you do and what you believe in. This will let you overcome some of the negative stereotypes they have of trial lawyers. This is exactly what David Ball recommends. I can assure you that you will look forward to one-on-one contact with people in your community, and you never know who might be on the jury in your next trial. I have heard from dozens of mem-
bers who tell me that they nearly always achieve a positive result when talking to small community groups. CAALA’s Public Relations
Committee operates our Speaker’s Bureau. If you are interested in learning more, contact committee chairs Stuart Fraenkel or Ronni Whitehead. You can also pick up some tips and advice about speaking to small groups from CAALA’s Web site
www.caala.org. There’s a whole section about the Speaker’s Bureau. CAALA’s leadership under our new
president, Mike Alder, is committed to listening to members who have thoughts or ideas on how to change public percep- tion about trial lawyers. As has been the case for the last eight years and decades before then, the challenges you face every day are huge, but the reward of achieving positive results for your clients is even greater. If you have questions or comments
about this column, contact me at the CAALA office or by e-mail at
stuart@caala.org.
JANUARY 2012 The Advocate Magazine — 89
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