The DRI Center for Law and Public Policy

On April 1, the Advisory Committee on Federal Civil Rules will hold a meeting that will include a report from their subcommittee studying possible amendments to address disclosure issues surrounding third-party litigation funders. Interested observers may register for this April 1 meeting before March 25 and attend remotely, without participation rights. The Center’s Third-Party Litigation Funding Task Force, along with the Center’s Federal Rules Task Force will be playing an active role in the effort to have both federal and state courts take appropriate steps to require transparency and necessary disclosures when third parties are funding and/or playing a controlling role managing cases in court.?? Read more here: https://bit.ly/4b5J5VS. #DRICommunity #DRILawyer #DRITheCenter #PublicPolicy #Legislation #Advocacy #Law? The Center provides the most effective voice for the defense bar in the discussion of substantive law, judicial process, constitutional issues, and the integrity of the civil justice system at both the national and state levels.?

DRI and the Center extend profound gratitude to Scott Burnett Smith (Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP) and Willy Jay (Goodwin Procter), whose long and valuable service on the Amicus Committee ended as of the October 2024 Annual Meeting. ? Read more here: https://bit.ly/3PESJ87. #DRICommunity #DRILawyer #DRITheCenter #PublicPolicy #Legislation #Advocacy #Law The Center provides the most effective voice for the defense bar in the discussion of substantive law, judicial process, constitutional issues, and the integrity of the civil justice system at both the national and state levels.?

Hillary Taylor (Keating Jones Hughes, P.C.) is now chair of the DRI Appellate Advocacy Committee and thus holds an ex officio seat on the Center’s Amicus Committee, a position recently vacated by Sarah Elizabeth Spencer (SpencerWillson, PLLC), who is now a fully appointed member of the Amicus Committee. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3PESJ87. #DRICommunity #DRILawyer #DRITheCenter #PublicPolicy #Legislation #Advocacy #Law The Center provides the most effective voice for the defense bar in the discussion of substantive law, judicial process, constitutional issues, and the integrity of the civil justice system at both the national and state levels.?

The Center is excited to announce that DRI members Susan Snowden (Jackson Kelly PLLC), Lorie Gildea (Greenberg Traurig, LLP), and Mychal Schulz (Babst Calland) have joined the Center’s Amicus Committee.? Read more here: https://bit.ly/3PESJ87. #DRICommunity #DRILawyer #DRITheCenter #PublicPolicy #Legislation #Advocacy #Law The Center provides the most effective voice for the defense bar in the discussion of substantive law, judicial process, constitutional issues, and the integrity of the civil justice system at both the national and state levels.?

The Center recently filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the petitioner in Dart v. Scott, No. 24-464. The case presents an issue of particular importance to class action defense lawyers: whether the prospect of an incentive award—an extra amount paid to a lead plaintiff out of the class’s recovery to compensate him for his service to the class—gives a putative lead plaintiff a sufficient personal stake for Article III’s purposes to maintain a lawsuit after he settles his claims. In Dart, after the district court denied class certification, the putative lead plaintiff settled his individual claim. Nonetheless, the plaintiff sought to appeal the adverse class-certification ruling. Below, the Seventh Circuit held that the prospect of an incentive award conferred standing on the plaintiff to continue to pursue the class aspects of the case. By contrast, the Eleventh Circuit has held that incentive awards are unlawful. The Center’s amicus brief contends that the Supreme Court should grant the petition and reverse the Seventh Circuit.? The Center’s brief was written by Matthew Nelson and Charlie Quigg of Warner Norcross + Judd.? Read more here: https://bit.ly/4fZZPie. #DRICommunity #DRILawyer #DRITheCenter #PublicPolicy #Legislation #Advocacy #Law The Center provides the most effective voice for the defense bar in the discussion of substantive law, judicial process, constitutional issues, and the integrity of the civil justice system at both the national and state levels.?

The DRI Center for Law and Public Policy (the Center) is pleased to announce its 2024 Annual Report!?? ? This report covers many of the Center’s accomplishments in the past year, including committee successes, amicus briefs, white papers and reports. In 2024, the Center filed 11 amicus briefs, produced two webinars, appointed 50 members to committees, task forces, and working groups, and so much more. It’s been a busy year for the Center! Check out all our accomplishments: https://bit.ly/4hGw2wl.? ? John Guttmann James McCrystal Baxter Drennon Brooks Magratten Lisa Baird Larry Ebner Dean Martinez Sean Dolan Jay Ludlam ? #DRILawyer?#DRICommunity?#DRICenter #AnnualReport #PublicPolicy?#Legislation?#Advocacy?? ? The Center provides the most effective voice for the defense bar in the discussion of substantive law, judicial process, constitutional issues, and the integrity of the civil justice system at both the national and state levels.?

The DRI Center for Law and Public Policy (the Center) has accomplished a lot this year! Check out our many successes in our newly released newsletter: https://bit.ly/3VORk2d. The Center provides the most effective voice for the defense bar in the discussion of substantive law, judicial process, constitutional issues, and the integrity of the civil justice system at both the national and state levels.?? #DRILawyer?#DRICommunity?#PublicPolicy?#Legislation?#Advocacy #DRICenter??

The Center for Law and Public Policy's Social Inflation Task Force is working on a comprehensive tracking system to analyze litigation outcomes in light of pretrial demands and offers. This data will inform defendants in litigation about the risks and benefits of trying cases in certain venues despite the rise in settlement demand amounts. To help, please complete this brief form: https://bit.ly/3JtFowb. #DRICommunity #DRILawyer #DRITheCenter #PublicPolicy #Legislation #Advocacy #Law The Center provides the most effective voice for the defense bar in the discussion of substantive law, judicial process, constitutional issues, and the integrity of the civil justice system at both the national and state levels.

The DRI Center for Law and Public Policy recently joined, at the request of its affiliated state defense organizations, two amicus curiae briefs: one to the Supreme Court of Missouri and one to the Supreme Court of Illinois. In Lange v. GMT Auto Sales, Inc., the Center joined the brief of the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers (MODL) in support of the respondent’s position that the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, erroneously held that defendant waived its right to arbitration by filing a motion to dismiss, arguing that pursuing a motion to dismiss before moving to compel arbitration not only does not waive arbitration rights, but also serves judicial economy and the interests of the parties by resolving certain threshold questions before arbitration. In Piasa Armory LLC v. Raoul, the Center joined the brief of the Illinois Defense Counsel (IDC) in support of the continued viability of the intrastate forum non conveniens doctrine, which is fundamental to the rights of defendants and the handling of lawsuits in Illinois, and that abandoning that doctrine would result in a concentration of cases in a select few Illinois counties, overwhelming those courts and burdening local juries with deciding controversies that have little, if any, practical connection to those counties. The Center was pleased to lend its support in these important matters. Read more here: https://bit.ly/4fDcBUF. #DRICommunity #DRILawyer #DRITheCenter #PublicPolicy #Legislation #Advocacy #Law The Center provides the most effective voice for the defense bar in the discussion of substantive law, judicial process, constitutional issues, and the integrity of the civil justice system at both the national and state levels.

Joining the Center’s Social Inflation Task Force are Linda Fulop-Slaughter and Kathrin Hashemi. Linda, Assistant Vice President, Claims Counsel, at Sompo International in Florham Park, New Jersey, has been a member of DRI since 2006 and is an active member of the DRI Medical Liability and Health Care Law Committee. Kathrin, a director of KCIC in Washington, D.C., has been a DRI member since 2004 and currently holds leadership positions in both the DRI Asbestos Litigation Committee (Marketing Vice Chair) and the DRI Medical Liability and Health Care Law Committee (Networking Chair). Read more here: https://bit.ly/4fDcBUF. #DRICommunity #DRILawyer #DRITheCenter #PublicPolicy #Legislation #Advocacy #Law The Center provides the most effective voice for the defense bar in the discussion of substantive law, judicial process, constitutional issues, and the integrity of the civil justice system at both the national and state levels.?