TLPJ Turns Twenty!

Wall of Honor, Special Events & Activities Planned

– Reprinted and adapted from the Winter 2002 issue of Public Justice.

Twenty years ago, 200 of the nation’s outstanding lawyers joined together to form a new, unique type of organization: a membership-supported national public interest trial lawyers’ firm. They succeeded. Trial Lawyers for Public Justice is now celebrating its 20^th anniversary.

"TLPJ truly has surpassed our goals," said TLPJ Foundation President Susan Vogel Saladoff of Davis, Gilstrap, Hearn, Saladoff & Smith, P.C. in Ashland, Oregon. "It is both the trial lawyer firm of the public interest community and the public interest firm of the trial lawyer community."

In the two decades since TLPJ opened its doors, its cutting-edge cases have made new law and won justice for thousands in a wide range of areas – consumer rights, toxic torts, workers’ rights, environmental protection, civil rights and civil liberties, mass torts, and preservation of access to justice itself. TLPJ’s special projects have successfully fought federal preemption of injury victims’ claims, unnecessary court secrecy, mandatory arbitration, class action abuse, and changes to the Federal Rules that would have skewed the court system against the poor and powerless.

"In addition to vindicating individuals’ rights in precedent-setting cases, we have successfully represented and/or worked with virtually every major public interest group in the country," said TLPJ Foundation President-Elect Paul R. Stritmatter of Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Withey Coluccio in Hoquiam, Washington. "Everyone associated with TLPJ has reason to be proud."

To celebrate and enhance TLPJ’s record of success, the 20^th Anniversary Committee – co-chaired by past Presidents Fred Baron, Gene Pavalon, and Peter Perlman and including all living past Presidents of The TLPJ Foundation – has worked with Saladoff, Stritmatter, and the Board of Directors to plan an extraordinary program of special activities and events (with some surprises still under wraps):

•The 20^th Anniversary Wall of Honor at TLPJ’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C., will permanently enshrine the names of all who recruit 20 new TLPJ Foundation members in 2002, give special gifts of $20,000 or more during the year, or whose 2002 new member recruits and special gifts combined total 20. See page 18 of the Winter 2002 issue of our Public Justice quarterly newsletter for details.

•The 20^th Anniversary Presidents’ Party kicked off the celebration in Miami on Tuesday, February 12, at the Winter Convention of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA). See page 17 of the Winter 2002 newsletter for details. Past Presidents of both The TLPJ Foundation and ATLA took part in the festivities.

•The 20^th Anniversary Membership Campaign pursues an appropriately aggressive goal – increasing our membership by 20% in 2002. Efforts to recruit and renew TLPJ Foundation members should be spurred both by the 20^th Anniversary Wall of Honor and by two ongoing membership contests with fantastic prizes. See page 27 of the newsletter for details.

•The 20^th Anniversary Super Thursday Phonathon in Chicago on April 4 featured a "Battle of the Ages" that drew TLPJ supporters from across the nation. Sock-hoppers and hip-hoppers competed to see who rules the charts in building support for TLPJ.

•The 20^th Anniversary Fellowship Project is enhancing TLPJ’s impact by creating fellowships for new lawyers at TLPJ. Past Presidents Joe Power, Jr. of Power, Rogers & Smith in Chicago and Joe Cotchett of Cotchett, Pitre & Simon in Burlingame, California, have already jump-started this project – and earned places on the 20^th Anniversary Wall of Honor – by agreeing to co-sponsor a fellowship. See page 19 of the Winter 2002 newsletter for details.

•The 20^th Anniversary Awards Dinner & Gala, to be held during ATLA on July 23 in Atlanta, will truly be a night to remember. A special 20^th Anniversary Champion of Justice will be honored, the 2002 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award finalists and winners will be feted, and unforgettable entertainment will be provided for all. Make plans now to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event!

•The 20^th Anniversary Showcase Program, also scheduled for Atlanta during ATLA’s Annual Convention, is one part of the expanded communications and outreach activities planned for this special year. Increased distribution of our two new books – Fighting for Public Justice: Cases and Trial Lawyers That Made a Difference and Consumer Arbitration Agreements – will continue to educate the public, the judiciary, and the trial lawyer community about the value of our civil justice system and the need (and ways) to preserve all Americans’ right to their day in court. Special "20^th Anniversary Focus" articles in Public Justice will share key lessons learned in our special projects. See page 4 of the Winter 2002 newsletter for an article on mandatory arbitration. A web site redesign, new membership "e-lerts," and a "greatest hits" brochure will also enhance our ability to spread the word about TLPJ.

•TLPJ’s 20^th Anniversary Public Interest Reception, to be held at our national headquarters in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the Fall meeting of The TLPJ Foundation Board of Directors will help reinforce our strong and independent relationships with other members of the public interest community. TLPJ activists and public interest advocates from throughout the nation will celebrate TLPJ’s two decades of public justice, renew old ties, and forge new ones.

All of these activities and events will help ensure that TLPJ’s 20^th Anniversary is truly special. Even more important, however, they will increase our ability to achieve our central mission: using trial lawyers’ skills and resources to advance the public good and create a more just society.