The rules of the ball game have changed.

• Author: Read, Gregory C.
• Position: Plaintiffs' bar gaining power

HISTORICALLY, corporations and their defense counsel have been able to outnumber, outspend and outlast most plaintiffs' counsel who filed lawsuits against them. But the balance of power is changing. The plaintiffs' bar is getting stronger, richer and more powerful. With an estimated total annual income of $25 billion, contingency fee lawyers have the money and motivation to become even more involved in changing the rules of the game to make it easier for them to win against corporate America.

Plaintiffs' lawyers spend millions of dollars on judicial and legislative elections in order to stack the deck in their favor. They are organized and well-financed lobbyists who actively oppose tort reform and support legislation making it easier to recover against corporations. They have increasingly used class actions and consumer fraud statutes to enhance their leverage against corporations. And now the advent of virtually automated litigation is having a dramatic impact on tilting the playing field in plaintiffs' favor.

Fueling the "Litigation Machine"

At the April Lawyers for Civil Justice meeting in Washington, D.C., the presidents of several defense bar organizations had the opportunity of participating in a panel discussion led by Business Week contributing editor Mike France. The discussion focused on a fascinating and well-researched article, "The Litigation Machine," written by Mr. France for the magazine's January 29, 2001 issue. The article documents in great detail how the Internet, information exchange groups, and litigation packets are giving every plaintiffs' finn a significant leg up in suing corporate America. The author's observations are very enlightening and form the basis for the discussion on this page.

Contingency fee lawyers have figured out that working together and sharing information may be their greatest weapon. For a couple hundred dollars, a plaintiff's lawyer can now purchase a CD-ROM from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America containing a searchable, step-by-step guide to suing Bridgestone/Firestone and Ford in a tire separation case. Similar guides are available concerning many other allegedly defective products.

These "litigation packets" contain everything one needs to initiate litigation against a corporate defendant: sample complaints, summaries of factual and legal issues, lists of documents to request from the defendant, applicable safety regulations, useful documents and a directory of helpful Web sites...