- Message From The Chair -
Celebrating our 75th anniversary, the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) has more than 35,000 members including lawyers, judges, law school professors and law students and serves as the balanced voice of the profession on issues related to the civil justice system and insurance/liability law. TIPS’ unique perspective exists because the Section serves as the meeting point for the plaintiffs’ bar, the defense bar and for insurance industry and corporate lawyers. The TIPS franchise is commonly referred to as the three legged stool and it aptly describes the support of the three legs to support a balanced and responsible development of the law. TIPS substantive work is carried out through its 34 General Committees, each dedicated to an area of law within the TIPS umbrella and covering topics like Employment Law, Fidelity and Surety Law, Insurance Regulation, Toxic Torts and Business Litigation.
TIPS’ major project being kicked off during the upcoming bar year is entitled: Defending the Rule of Law in America; Countering Attacks on Our Judicial Institutions. The Framers of our Constitution created an independent judiciary to serve as a check and balance between the other two branches of our tri-partite system of government. For the system to function as envisioned, judges must be able to be fair and impartial remaining true to their oath of office. Given our adversarial system of justice, judges are called upon daily to make decisions that are bound to be unpopular to those whose positions are not sustained. Unfortunately, the rising incidents of attacks on the judiciary through the media, through violence, through political initiatives, though legislation and otherwise, has called in to question the judiciary’s ability to function fairly and independently. TIPS is uniquely positioned to speak out on behalf of a fair and independent judiciary and will begin a major project in the upcoming year to teach the public about the role of a fair and independent judiciary in partnership with the ABA’s Standing Committee on Judicial Independence and with Justice At Stake, a non-profit organization dedicated to the same core principles as this project.
Another major project of the Section is the Task Force on Insurance Disaster Relief. The Section is convening this task force to study the insurance and liability issues that confront the nation when disaster strikes. The Task Force was motivated by the recent hurricanes and the issues that have arisen in dealing with their aftermaths as well as the realization that there will be future such disasters and the need for a more principled and predictable method for addressing with the issues that will occur. The Task Force represents the diverse interests both within and outside the insurance industry and the goal of the Task Force is to come up with a set of Recommendations on how the law and insurance ought to be structured to make sure that more certainty exists in dealing with the issue of liability when disaster strikes. Those Recommendations will then be brought forward to the ABA House of Delegates in the hope that they will be adopted as official ABA policy. This objective and balanced point of view is a model for compromise and moving forward in the legal arena and has been a hallmark of the many TIPS Task Forces that have been convened over the years on issues such as Asbestos, Contingency Fees and Medical Malpractice.
Sincerely,
Peter Bennett, Section Chair
pbennett@thebennettlawfirm.com
Last Modified on Wednesday, August 15, 2007 1:04 PM
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