Survey Blasting Lawsuits Can't be Called Objective

It's reaching a new low when citizen watchdog groups require watching.

One such watchdog group that appears to need some watching is the Illinois Civil Justice League. The group, formed nearly two years ago and based in Chicago, is headed by Edward Murnane, former Bush administration figure.

With sizable donations from corporate giants, ICJL is working to reform the justice system. To further this aim, the group commissioned a Maryland research firm to survey Illinoisans' feelings on this issue.

It's not too surprising that ICJL got the results it wanted. What is surprising is that the major Chicago newspapers published the results of the survey without even checking into its reliability.

I did just that.

I asked a respected Chicago research firm, Leo J. Shapiro and Associates, to analyze ICJL's published report from its survey of 600 randomly chosen registered voters in the state. The Shapiro firm determined the survey lacked credibility.

The questions were biased and leading, according to the Shapiro analysis. Instead of trying to seek opinions of respondents, the questions tried to tell a story that was obviously designed to influence the respondents' perceptions, and, ultimately, their answers.

For instance, the following leading statements are taken verbatim from the questionnaire: Too many people are taking unfair advantage of the system in order to get their hands on large damage awards.

Too many lawsuits are being filed in Illinois today.

Too many frivolous lawsuits are being filed.

Objective? Hardly.

But perhaps one of the most blatant errors of the poll, and one to which the media gave the greatest attention, were questions that dealt with the number of lawsuits being filed. The Sun-Times reported that 76 percent of the respondents said too many lawsuits were being filed and 82 percent said there were too many frivolous lawsuits.

It appears the survey never asked whether an appropriate number of lawsuits was being filed or whether the respondents might not have any view about this issue at all. Failing to provide a middle ground or "don't know" category may force respondents to give opinions with which they might not truly agree.

The poll clearly was undertaken to promote an anti-litigation agenda, one of the tenets of the ICJL. Big business stands to gain the most from any success of this group. But when a group's membership uses its organization to further a personal agenda for political gain, under the guise of the public's good, it is time to expose the so-called watchdog group and its efforts.

Surely, a need for the more efficient administration of justice is a goal we must all strive to achieve. But to try to limit consumers' rights in court, under the guise of working for the consumer, just isn't right.

Robert A. Clifford is a partner of Clifford Law Offices, a Chicago firm concentrating in personal injury, wrongful death, aviation, medical malpractice and product liability law.