American Tort Reform Association

American Tort Reform Association is a coalition of medical professional associations and various industry groups -- such as from the chemical, tobacco and drug industries -- promoting changes to U.S legislation to limit corporate and professional liability for damage caused by their products and services. It had revenues of $6.1 million in 2009. It's president in 2009 was Sherman Joyce. In 2009, the firm reported paying almost $1.2 million to the PR firm APCO Worldwide for "consulting," $544,000 to the corporate law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon for "lobbying," and a total of $1.17 million for lobbying, although the organization claims. Sherman Joyce's compensation and benefits package totaled over $405,000 in 2009.

History and formation
Philip Morris hired APCO Worldwide to manage a massive national effort aimed at altering the American judicial system to be more hostile towards product liability suits ("Tort Reform"). Tort reform was an internal corporate program of Philip Morris, who led other companies into the plan. According to a 1995 Philip Morris Tort Reform Budget, the industry paid APCO Associates almost $1 million in 1995 to implement behind-the-scenes tort reform efforts. APCO's job was to create chapters of "grassroots" citizens' groups called Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALAs). The budget shows the tobacco industry alone budgeted $21.8 million to fund the tort reform effort in the single year of 1995.

Description
ATRA was purportedly co-founded in 1986 by the American Medical Association and the American Council of Engineering Companies as a non-profit organization based on promoting tort & liability reform through public education and legislative action. In particular ATRA lobbies for limits on class actions, abolition of the "rule of joint and several liability", limits on punitive and non-economic damages and "sound science in the courtroom."

On its website ATRA compalins that personal injury lawsuits "are bad for business; they are also bad for society. They compromise access to affordable health care, punish consumers by raising the cost of goods and services, chill innovation, and undermine the notion of personal responsibility. The personal injury lawyers who benefit from the status quo use their fees to perpetuate the cycle of lawsuit abuse. They have reinvested millions of dollars into the political process and in more litigation that acts as a drag on our economy."

Public material published to support these positions include an annual list of "Judicial Hellholes" outlining areas that they find to favor plaintiffs.

ATRA has developed model tort reform laws (The Times 6/12/94).

Lobbying Efforts
In the first two quarters of 2012, ATRA spent $20,000 lobbying to support the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2011, and the House companion bill, HR 966, as well as the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act of 2012, They also lobbied in support of the "Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011", They lobbied to oppose the Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2011 and the Paycheck Fairness Act.

The American Tort Reform Association Spent $80,000 on lobbying efforts in 2008, $90,000 in 2009, $40,000 in 2010, and $40,000 in 2011. ATRA does most of its lobbying itself, but also contracts out to notorious lobby-shop Shook, Hardy, & Bacon.

Members
On its website ATRA does not include a full list of members but provides only a "sample" list of members. These members, as of July 2012, are:


 * AEGIS Insurance Services
 * Advance Medical Technology Association
 * Altria Client Services
 * ASFE
 * American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons
 * American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists
 * American Institute of Architects
 * American Insurance Association
 * American Legislative Exchange Council
 * American Medical Association
 * American Suzuki Motor Company
 * American Trucking Associations
 * Associated Wire Rope Fabricators
 * Bayer Pharmaceutical Corporation
 * CNA Financial Corporation
 * CSX Corporation
 * Caterpillar
 * Chrysler Group
 * Cocal-Cola Bottlers’ Association
 * Cybex International
 * Doctors' Company
 * Eli Lilly and Company
 * Farmers Insurance Co.
 * Ford Motor Company
 * Emerson Electric Company
 * ExxonMobil
 * General Electric
 * Great American Insurance Companies
 * Hyundai Motor America
 * Johnson & Johnson
 * Koch Industries, Inc.
 * Medical Mutual
 * Merck & Company
 * MetLife
 * Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association
 * National Association of Home Builders
 * National Federation of Independent Business
 * National Fuel Gas Distribution
 * Nationwide
 * Pfizer
 * Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
 * Physician Insurers Association of America
 * PPG Industries
 * Preferred Physician Medical
 * Prudential Insurance Company of America
 * SeamCraft, Inc.
 * Shell Oil Company
 * State Farm
 * Taussig Corporation
 * Unimin Corporation

As of March 2008, the "sample list" was slightly different:


 * 3M Company
 * Altria Corporate Services/*Kraft Foods
 * ASFE
 * Advance Medical Technology Association
 * American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
 * American Association of Neurological Surgeons
 * American Blood Centers
 * American Chemistry Council
 * American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists
 * American College of Surgeons
 * American Council of Engineering Companies
 * American Furniture Warehouse
 * American Health Care Association
 * American Institute of Architects
 * American Legislative Exchange Council
 * American Medical Association
 * American Society of Mechanical Engineers
 * Anheuser Busch Companies
 * Associated Wire Rope Fabricators
 * Baxter
 * Boeing
 * Bunn Brothers Ltd
 * Caterpillar
 * City of New York Law Department
 * Cooper Industries
 * Court Security Systems
 * CSX Transportation
 * DaimlerChrysler Corporation
 * Defense Research Institute
 * Delmar Emergency Specialists
 * DeWald Northwest Company
 * diaDexus, Inc.
 * Doctor's Company
 * Erickson Retirement Communities
 * Harleysville Insurance Companies
 * Juvenile Products Manufacturers
 * Johnson & Johnson
 * Kenyon Plastering, Inc.
 * Koch Industries
 * Lovell Safety Management Co.
 * Manhattan Orthopaedics, PC
 * NCH Corporation
 * National Association of Home Builders
 * National Federation of Independent Businesses
 * National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation
 * New York Blood Centers
 * New York Life Insurance
 * Nexcare Heathcare Systems LLC
 * PPM Services
 * Pennsylvania Medical Society
 * Pfizer
 * Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
 * Physician Insurers Association of America
 * Rio Grande Valley Chamber
 * Roller Skating Association, Intl.
 * Scandia Family Fun Center
 * SeamCraft
 * Small Aircraft Manufacturers Association
 * SnowSports Industries America
 * State Farm
 * Taussig Corporation
 * TRW Automotive
 * Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America
 * Wyeth
 * Z-World Inc.

Staff
As of March 2008, ATRA staff include :
 * Sherman Joyce, President
 * Darren McKinney, Director of Communications
 * Matt Fullenbaum, Director of Legislation
 * Elizabeth Emery, Assistant Director of Legislation
 * Gretchen S. Post, Executive Assistant and Office Manager
 * Geneva Carney, Membership Coordinator

Contact details
American Tort Reform Association 1101 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036 Phone: 202 682-1163 Fax 202 682-1022 Website: http://www.atra.org/

External resources

 * ATRA's 2009 IRS Form 990 (pdf, from Guidestar)