Straight talk about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Lawyer jokes and uninformed Statements bashing the civil justice system have dogged plaintiff attorneys through many a golf game, PTA meeting, or dinner party. When a myth about civil justice rears its head, you need to respond with the facts.

Q: Why are corporations and groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce being accused of trying to destroy the civil justice system? Aren't they just trying to stop abuses?

A: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a stand-in for the country's giant, multinational corporations and has clearly said it intends to transform the civil justice system to meet its own needs. "We need to change the legal landscape in this nation, and business needs to lead the way," Chamber President Tom Donohue said in a speech earlier this year.

"Changing the legal landscape" is just a euphemism for letting big business shed legal accountability so it can reap huge profits at the expense of consumer safety. The Chamber already has spent at least $57 million campaigning against judges and state attorneys general whom it sees as insufficiently pro-business. It's trying to control the one branch of government that so far has eluded its grasp--the judiciary.

The Chamber and its allies have succeeded in shifting most class action cases from state courts to the federal courts in hopes of gaining tighter control. It has convinced several state legislatures to impose an unfair $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages in negligence cases--although, fortunately for injured people, it hasn't yet achieved a cap at the federal level.

Donohue and others cite "frivolous lawsuits" as the reason for restricting people's rights. But most federal judges don't see "frivolous lawsuits" as a problem, according to the Federal Judicial Center, which is the research and education agency of the federal court system. Seventy percent of the 278 federal court judges who responded to a survey conducted by the center said groundless litigation is either a "small problem" or a "very small problem," and 15 percent of respondents said it was no problem at all.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is trying very hard to make the civil justice system just another one of its subsidiaries, and that spells nothing but trouble for the American public.