Access To Justice
Power unchecked is power abused. That's why we work to preserve everyone's right to a day in court.
But many of those with power have few restraints. And they keep devising new ways to block ordinary people's access to the courts.
Across the country, corporate wrongdoers are amending their contracts to ban individual and class action litigation. They're also working to expand federal preemption, mandatory arbitration and court secrecy to preclude many suits and bury the rest.
What Public Justice Is Doing
Public Justice launched the Access to Justice Campaign to expose, challenge and defeat the assault taking place on the right to a day in court. Wrongdoers want to close the courthouse doors so victims can't hold them accountable.
The Access to Justice Campaign educates the public and the legal community about these dangers and develops the legal tools to defeat them nationwide. It initiates and joins cutting-edge litigation designed to thwart these threats and secure the people's right to seek redress through the courts.
Most recently, Public Justice submitted comments opposing draft changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This matters to anyone who cares about bringing civil lawsuits (a lot of folks), and especially to our attorneys and members. If enacted, these changes would hinder plaintiffs' ability to bring cases and make it easier for corporate defendants to evade liability; they would make it harder for plaintiffs to collect the evidence they need, give them less time to depose witnesses, and make the whole process far more expensive.
Read more about why we oppose these changes to the FRCP. Our comments were prepared by some of our members with input from staff -- a great example of how our membership and staff work together.
UPDATE: Following a flood of negative comments from plaintiffs' attorneys and public interest groups, the committee that oversees to FRCP is already backing off the proposed changes.
To make a special donation to our Access to Justice Campaign, click here.