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Campaign Against Frivolous Lawsuits Coming To A Theater Near You

Christina Bellantoni | December 30, 2009, 8:46AM

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Chamber of Commerce, Tort reform

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If you saw Avatar, Sherlock Holmes or Up in the Air this weekend, you also may have heard a little bit about Richard Singer, a small business owner in Bay City, Michigan who says he fell victim to a bogus lawsuit.

It seems like a friendly, well-produced public service announcement detailing the "Faces of Lawsuit Abuse" with a focus on small business. But it's a bit strange to see a commercial with a political message in between traditional pre-movie programming of Coca-Cola ads and spots pushing new television shows.

"America needs more jobs, not more lawsuits," is the tag line after Singer tells his story.

The four-minute video is airing in the pre-trailer commercial reel in movie theaters in Washington, D.C., Albany, Denver, Orlando and Tampa Bay, Florida and in Baton Rouge. It's part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform, which spent $4.2 million from June through September.

The Chamber is a major player, spending nearly $39 million lobbying Congress and government agencies in the third quarter of this year alone. Representing corporations both large and small, the Chamber has a goal of making it harder for people to sue their clients.

The campaign is an affiliate of the chamber, said spokesman Mark Szymanski.

The Institute began running ads on television and radio two years ago, but has made a real push to captive audiences in movie theaters.

Szymanski told TPMDC there are 17 stories from small business owners who were "targeted by abusive lawsuits."

He said they are the first public advocacy group to put the ads in theaters, a push they started in limited run over the summer and have since expanded. It is now running on every screen before every flick in D.C., he said.

Szymanski would not disclose the cost of the campaign but said it is funded through chamber membership and individual businesses.

Tort reform and frivolous lawsuits have been targets of the chamber for years. The campaign is designed to raise awareness - and tie lawsuits into timely issue of jobs - and not geared toward specific legislation.

The "kills jobs" line is a frequent one for the chamber, which funded a study last month to show health care reform would cost the U.S. jobs.

They also have had less traditional campaigns this year.

Watch the pre-theater commercial:

Late Update: Ray De Lorenzi, a spokesman for the American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America), writes in to criticize the campaign.

Here's De Lorenzi's (topical) statement:

"The Chamber's long terms goals are clear - get rid of the world's best justice system and leave Americans injured by corporate misconduct with absolutely no recourse. While the Chamber doesn't want everyday Americans to use the legal system, they are actually one of the biggest lawsuit-filers in Washington; except in their case, the Chamber sues on behalf of Wall Street banks, oil companies, and lead paint manufacturers. Given that the Chamber had feature roles in AIG, the subprime industry, Enron, and the banking crisis, they've earned an Oscar for causing the financial meltdown and creating an environment of less oversight and accountability."