WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) today announced its 2016 Legal Reform Award winners at its 17th Annual Legal Reform Summit. The event, The Litigation Machine, brought together top experts to explore current lawsuit trends, and featured a keynote address by Former Massachusetts Governor and 2012 Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney. The awards honor individuals and organizations whose outstanding work has contributed to reforming civil justice systems around the globe.
“We are proud to honor these individuals and organizations for their tireless efforts to advocate for commonsense legal reforms, both in the U.S. and abroad,” said ILR President Lisa A. Rickard. “Each deserves recognition for helping to protect businesses and citizens alike from the economic damage that comes from an overly litigious environment.”
The five award winners included:
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President for Government Affairs Bruce Josten received the Legal Reform Champion Award. Josten will retire at the end of the year after 42 years of service at the Chamber, and is one of the business community’s most effective strategists in the ongoing battle for civil justice reform.
- The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers received the Outstanding Alliance Award. The group partnered with ILR earlier this year to hold a symposium to draw attention to the over-criminalization of American enterprise and has made important contributions to the fight for criminal justice reform.
- The Michigan Chamber of Commerce received the Outstanding Organization Award in recognition of its extraordinary leadership in the legal reform community – including as chair of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100, and as a liaison among all of the state chambers and the U.S. Chamber.
- Ken Daly of the Sidley Austin law firm received the Research and Policy Award for authoring invaluable research reports and comment letters on third party litigation financing and class actions, as well as helping guide ILR’s efforts in the EU and the UK.
- Florida State Representative Kathleen Passidomo received the State Legislative Achievement Award. As chairwoman of the Florida House Civil Justice Subcommittee, she exhibited extraordinary leadership as one of the business community’s strongest and most reliable allies in the fight for legal reform in Florida.
ILR seeks to promote civil justice reform through legislative, political, judicial, and educational activities at the national, state, and local levels.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.