A new century for ATLA: the association and its members have a 60-year history of fighting on the right side of justice. Now, they look ahead: how will the rules of engagement change in the 21st century?

Important internal and external changes are marking ATLA's entry into its seventh decade--and a new century.

"ATLA is at a really important place in its history," said Jon Haber, who became ATLA's chief executive officer last year. "We are at a crossroads, and the role the association plays is changing."

Haber noted that two essential purposes drive ATLA as an organization: providing trial lawyers with the tools they need to serve their clients (through resources such as its publications, continuing legal education, the Exchange, and ATLA's Web site) and protecting the civil justice system. These core functions, he said, will not change, although the strategies and tactics for achieving them will.

"It's not like 5 or 10 years ago," Haber said. "Our world has changed. Corporate CEOs and powerful interests--like the insurance industry and drug companies--have succeeded in getting laws passed that limit the right of any person injured by the misconduct and negligence of others to get justice in the courtroom."

Chief Operating Officer Margie Lehrman said the association must continue to target its education programs and litigation support services to members' specific needs. "The reality is there are more legal products and services available today than ever before," she noted. "Even law firms now sell CLE, put out publications, and have blog postings." ATLA can weed through the information to pinpoint what is most valuable to its members, she said.

Similarly, ATLA's way of delivering its products and services has changed "from holding more traditional conventions to using state-of-the-art technology to develop digital magazines, podcasts, and webinars--all to bring our members the best services in the best way for them," Lehrman said.

On the battlefield

One of the services that ATLA members value is ATLA's political advocacy. It is hardly news to trial lawyers that they continue to face an intense battle against tort "reform" advocates pushing a legislative agenda that would give powerful corporations potentially overwhelming advantages in the courtroom. The "reformers" launched their political and public relations campaigns decades ago, and they have put the debate about the civil justice system in their own terms.

What has changed is ATLA's response: Over the past year, the association has moved aggressively to counter rhetoric that demonizes the civil justice system. ATLA's communications campaign is using media out reach, paid advertising, Internet outreach, a rapid-response operation, and a grassroots network People over Profits--to reframe the debate about the civil justice system.

"We have to fight at the jury box and at the ballot box," said Chris Mather, vice president of Communications. "The motives and tactics of the other side have gone unanswered for far too long." Working from a new space in the ATLA headquarters building dubbed "the war room," Mather said the Communications staff is now "intensely committed" to a counterassault.

One example is a recent full-page advertisement that read, "Haven't the Big Corporate CEOs Taken Enough?" ATLA ran it in USA Today in April as a response to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce ad that depicted a trial lawyer with his mouth stuffed with money. (To view the ad, go to www.atla.org/ads/.)

Advertisements also appeared on several popular and well-regarded progressive blogs, such as DailyKos (www.dailykos.com), Digby's Hullabaloo (digby.blogspot.com), and Atrios (atrios.blogspot.com). Like their print counterparts, the ads highlighted the greed of corporate CEOs. Viewers of the online ads could click on a link to the People over Profits Web site (www.peopleoverprofits.org).

Mather said members' response to the communications campaign has been overwhelmingly positive.

"What we hear all the time is, 'Thank goodness. It's about time we started fighting back,'" she said. Mather noted that ATLA's new tactics have themselves become the subject of analysis by media outlets such as CNN and the Washington Post.

"We're on the playing field," she said. "We're using every single messenger out there, and we'll look at any tactic we can use to tell the truth."

In addition, ATLA has intensified its efforts on Capitol Hill. In May, the Public Affairs staff helped stop the latest in a series of proposed bills that would have severely limited injured patients' rights in medical negligence cases. (See story on page 11.)

And recent ATLA-sponsored Lobby Days events have brought both trial lawyers and clients to Washington for face-to-face meetings with lawmakers. In February, participants in an Asbestos Victims Lobby Day helped derail a trust fund bill that would have bailed out many asbestos defendants; in May, Republican trial lawyers met with senators and representatives of their party to underscore that protecting civil justice is consistent with Republican principles.

The Lobby Days events in Washington are evidence of another positive change in the association: an increase in active political participation by ATLA's membership.

"Originally, the attitude was that ATLA, not members, took care of things," said Jeff White, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Litigation (CCL) and coauthor of David v. Goliath, a history of ATLA. "Maybe that made sense at the time, but it was a waste of a precious resource. In the past five years or so there's been a change: Now we invite members to join in. It's very healthy."

What lies ahead?

CCL President Robert Peck--who leads the law firm's work representing ATLA and state trial lawyer associations in challenging the constitutionality of tort "reform" statutes around the country--said the "reformers" are using a new set of techniques in attempting to undermine the civil justice system.

"There is still overt infringement on rights, but they are also using inventive, subtle obstructions, such as tinkering with the rules of evidence and procedure," Peck said. "Examples would be attempts to abolish joint and several liability and to establish health courts." Trial lawyers, he said, need to learn to be "equally creative" when countering these tactics.

"There is one thing to remember about our members: They are fighters," Haber said. "They are used to going against long odds. ATLA has to be as good as our members."