Abraham Lincoln: Tort Reform Champion

By Sherry Sylvester

AUSTIN - Texans for Lawsuit Reform honors the 202nd Anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln by praising Lincoln's strong stand against frivolous lawsuits and his expressed belief that such suits waste time and money and are rooted in greed.

Always counted among our greatest and most visionary presidents, Lincoln saw more than one hundred and fifty years ago that lawsuit abuse was detrimental, not only to the legal profession, but to society as a whole.

In his "Notes on a Law Lecture," written on July 1, 1850, Lincoln said:

"Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this. Who can be more nearly a fiend than he who habitually overhauls the register of deeds in search of defects in titles, whereon to stir up strife, and put money in his pocket? A moral tone ought to be infused into the profession which should drive such men out of it.

"Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser -- in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough."

Lincoln's complete "Notes on a Law Lecture" can be found at: http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/lawlect.htm

Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the state's largest civil justice reform organization, is a bipartisan, volunteer-led coalition with more than 17,000 supporters residing in more than 869 Texas communities and representing 1,253 different businesses, professions and trades.

For more information, visit www.tortreform.com.