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New ATLA President Hopes To Boost Trial Lawyers' Image
July 20, 2005

Kenneth M. Suggs knows trial lawyers have an image problem. A wave of public relations campaigns funded by insurance companies and pro-business groups have made many jurors believe that lawyers routinely file frivolous lawsuits aimed at winning big judgments, he said. That's why Suggs is trying to convince the public that America needs trial lawyers.

Suggs will make public outreach a priority during his one-year tenure as president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. A medical malpractice plaintiffs' attorney in Columbia, S.C., Suggs takes the helm of the 56,000-member trial lawyers' association at its annual convention in Toronto July 23-27.

His task won't be easy.

The American Tort Reform Association regularly sends out press releases about "loony lawsuits," like the Oregon jury that awarded $1.6 million in February to a woman who claimed that a fraudulent ad in the Yellow Pages led her to a dermatologist who disfigured her in a liposuction procedure.

And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce each March releases a list of "jackpot jurisdictions" that are supposedly biased in favor of plaintiffs.

The pro-business, anti-lawsuit sentiment has resulted in a wave of legislation aimed at curbing lawsuits:

• President Bush signed legislation in February that makes it easier to shift certain class-action lawsuits from state to federal courts.
• More than 20 states have capped non-economic damages in medical malpractice suits. And President Bush is again backing federal legislation to limit medical malpractice awards. A similar plan failed in Congress last year.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee in May approved creation of a $140-billion trust fund to settle asbestos injury claims.
• The House Judiciary Committee in April approved legislation backed by the National Rifle Association that would shield gun manufacturers and gun dealers from lawsuits. The committee also backed a measure to impose sanctions on attorneys who bring frivolous lawsuits, and approved the so-called "cheeseburger bill," which bars lawsuits against restaurants and food manufacturers for consumers' health problems.

Still, Suggs is optimistic.

"I believe that if people start to understand the only way insurance companies get held accountable is in the courtroom, they'll start to understand the value of lawyers in society," he said.

Reaching Out

Suggs hopes to supplement marketing efforts during his one-year term as ATLA president with an outreach effort that includes a public speaking campaign by trial lawyers. Members are being encouraged to talk to community organizations and school groups about their profession.

"Remember the White House tapes from Watergate?" Suggs said. "They covered more than the cover-up. One of those tapes lets us hear an auto executive talking the Nixon Administration into blocking the requirement for airbags. When airbags were finally placed in cars nearly 20 years later, it was because lawyers representing needlessly injured people forced the car companies to use the technology they'd long had. There are dozens of other examples where safety reforms followed litigation."

Suggs reels off several that come immediately to mind: the Dalkon shield, flammable fabrics, safer vehicle interiors and automobile rollover protection.

"We need to remind Americans that if they give up their right to serve on a jury - or let insurance industry lobbyists take it away - they are putting their families in danger," he said.

ATLA spokesman Carlton Carl said that the entire organization needs to get behind the effort.
"We're trying to get our members to educate their clients and reach out more in the community," said Carl. "Fundamentally, they and their clients' rights are under attack every day. The best counter to that is people telling their communities the truth and getting their clients more involved. Their clients hopefully have benefited from the civil justice system, and every effort to undermine those rights hurts all of us."

Specifically, he said, ATLA is encouraging trial lawyers to "talk about what they do every day, and have their clients talk about their own cases."

"We just want people to know that the vast majority of the women and men of ATLA are small-business people and members of working families," he said.

ATLA also hopes to step up its lobbying efforts.

"We want to make sure that the voices of those who have been seriously injured are heard in Congress, and it's not just the insurance companies that are represented in Congress," said Suggs.
ATLA officials said they can't be more specific about public relations efforts because they aren't finalized yet. There's also the issue of money.

Funded by members' dues, ATLA officials say they are outmatched by the deep pockets of insurance companies and corporations backing "liability reform."

"We don't have the huge budgets that the insurance companies and tobacco industries have," Suggs said. "We have to be more frugal."

"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending $50 million on lobbying," Carl added. "We don't have those kinds of resources, but we're going to have the most talented, effective advocates for preserving people's rights as we can."

Bright Spots

Despite all the challenges to the judicial system, there are some bright spots, according to Suggs. Jury reform efforts are gaining support to grant jurors adequate pay, the right to ask questions and the ability to take notes during trials.

"ATLA believes that regular Americans should have more power, not less," Suggs said. "We believe we should show our respect for jurors by paying them a reasonable reimbursement for their service, and giving them all the tools they need to decide cases."

Suggs said he is also encouraged by the number of young lawyers and law school students who are interested in becoming plaintiffs' attorneys. ATLA has an active law school membership and a trial competition for law school students. And although ATLA's membership hasn't grown recently, it has remained stable.

ATLA's convention is expected to attract more than 1,200 participants. Speakers include John R. Edwards, a former U.S. senator from North Carolina and Democratic candidate for vice president, and a veteran personal injury plaintiffs' lawyer.

The convention features 50 continuing education programs on a range of practice areas and litigation trends.

Outreach To Victims

Suggs graduated from Clemson University with a degree in economics in 1968. He then served four years in the Navy, including two years in Vietnam, before going to law school.
He has been a trial lawyer since he graduated from the University of South Carolina Law School in 1975.

For 25 years, he had his own law firm in Columbia, S.C., but last year joined Janet Jenner & Suggs, a 12-lawyer firm with offices in Columbia and Baltimore.

The firm's practice areas include medical malpractice, prescription drug negligence and nursing home abuse.

Suggs has attained recognition as a Fellow of the National College of Advocacy. He was awarded the South Carolina Trial Lawyers' Public Citizen Award in 2002.

One of his proudest accomplishments both as a trial lawyer and ATLA member is the pro bono work he did on behalf of Sept. 11 victims and families. More than 1,000 ATLA members, including Suggs, provided free legal representation to more than 1,700 victim families who participated in the federal government's Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund.

"It was the largest pro bono work in history," Suggs said.

He personally represented three families at hearings in New York and remained in touch with them afterward.

Suggs has been involved with ATLA since he graduated from law school. "My first boss when I graduated law school was a member. When I went to my first ATLA CLE, I was hooked," he said.

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