ISSUE 76 FALL 2014 FRANCIS M. WIKSTROM 65TH PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF TRIAL LAWYERS Linda Jones and Fran Wikstrom in Sun Valley, Idaho American College of Trial Lawyers JOURNAL Chancellor-Founder Hon. Emil Gumpert (1895-1982) OFFICERS Robert L. Byman President Francis M. Wikstrom President-Elect Michael W. Smith Treasurer Andy Coats Bartholomew J. Dalton Secretary and Stephen Grant Chilton Davis Varner Immediate Past President BOARD OF REGENTS Please contact the National Office with contributions or Rodney Acker Elizabeth N. Mulvey suggestions at
[email protected]. Dallas, Texas Boston, Massachusetts Robert L. Byman James T. Murray, Jr. Chicago, Illinois Milwaukee, Wisconsin We know the problems, the solutions are at hand. Bartholomew J. Dalton Michael L. O’Donnell Wilmington, Delaware Denver, Colorado In 2009, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal Sys- James M. Danielson C. Rufus Pennington, III tem (IAALS) and the College released their final report on discovery Wenatchee, Washington Jacksonville Beach, Florida and other aspects of the civil justice system. With some alarm, the Trudie Ross Hamilton William H. Sandweg III Waterbury, Connecticut Phoenix, Arizona report highlighted the problems facing the system itself and offered William T. Hangley Michael W. Smith twenty-nine sound recommendations. Trials, particularly jury trials, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Richmond, Virginia the report concluded, are not the concern and are well-worth preserv- David J. Hensler Kathleen M. Trafford ing as they represent a fundamental keystone of our democracy. Rath- Washington, District of Columbia Columbus, Ohio er, at its core, the issue is the lack of cost-benefit rationale in most civil Michael F.