Civil Justice Foundation protects consumers - one grant at a time.

As we continue the fight against tort "reform," it is easy to feel besieged and alone, to feel as if we are but a single voice seeking to protect the rights of injured people.

Fortunately, we are not alone. There are hundreds of consumer advocacy groups working to protect individual fights and the health and well-being of the injured.

In 1986, former ATLA presidents Peter Perlman and Roxanne Barton Conlin and other association leaders envisioned an ATLA affiliation with these groups. These leaders worked with dedicated consumer advocates like Joan Claybrook of Public Citizen and Charles Inlander of the People's Medical Society to form the Civil Justice Foundation (CJF). Now funded solely by the contributions of individual ATLA members, the foundation has grown into a respected national grant-making organization.

To date, CJF has provided more than $1 million in 116 grants to groups working in a wide variety of consumer protection areas, including highway and auto safety, children's safety, environmental issues, handgun violence, workplace safety, and medical malpractice.

Foundation grants are not large--they range from $2,000 to $20,000. But CJF funds have helped these organizations become nationally known, effective consumer advocates--one grant at a time.

Consider the foundation's grant last year of $9,500 to Parents Against. Tired Truckers (PATT) in Lisbon Falls, Maine. Founded by Daphne Izer after her son was killed by an overtired trucker, PATT is working to overhaul the driver compensation system and eliminate the pay-by-mile incentive to drive tired. PATT representatives have presented testimony in state legislatures and been featured in the national media. The organization frequently responds to inquiries from trial lawyers for information on fatigue-related issues involving the trucking industry.

In addition to its grant-making program, the foundation recognizes outstanding consumer advocates with its annual Community Champion award. The work of the 1997 Community Champions--Robert Fellmeth, founder of the Children's Advocacy Institute; Carolyn Rocchio, founder of the Brain Injury Association; and Robert Sanders, founder of Parents for Safer Airbags--inspires us and complements our work as trial lawyers.

As the national reputation of the foundation has grown, so has the number of grant applications. In 1997,57 consumer groups requested more than $735,000 in grant funds. The CJF Board of Trustees--19 ATLA members and 6 consumer advocates--allocated the available $168,000 to the 15 most effective organizations. As the foundation's funding rises, so will the number of organizations that receive grants.

To help accomplish that goal, CJF hopes to expand its grant-making program through a new Memorial Grant program. This is away for consumers to support the foundation's philanthropy, but we need your help.

Perhaps you have obtained a wrongful death recovery where there are no heirs to receive the proceeds of the suit. Or maybe a successful litigant wishes to perpetuate the name of a loved one through a donation to a consumer advocacy group. In these instances, I urge you to suggest to the court or your client that a donation to the Civil Justice Foundation Memorial Grant Program would be worthwhile and beneficial to others. The foundation will match up to $10,000 any funds received in this program and will make a grant to an outstanding consumer advocacy organization in the loved one's name.

The foundation recently received its first Memorial Grant contribution from the family of Quonysha Stamps, a two-year-old who died as a result of medical malpractice. The CJF Memorial Grant Program is an excellent way to maximize a memorial contribution. I ask you to keep this program in mind as you continue your work.

Without ATLA member support, the foundation--and many of its grantees--would not exist. I am proud to be a CJF "Champion of Justice" (a donor of $1,000 or more annually) and hope that all of you will consider making an annual donation to the foundation as part of your philanthropic plan. I am happy to report that in CJF's last fiscal year, 72 cents of every dollar spent went out as a grant.

You will find a CJF reply card inserted in this issue of TRIAL. I urge you to use the card to get more information on the foundation's grant-making program (perhaps you know a deserving consumer advocacy organization), Community Champion Awards (ATLA members may make nominations), and Memorial Grant Program, or to make a contribution.

We are lucky to have so many consumer advocacy organizations standing with us. Perhaps, working together, we will achieve justice for all Americans.