Posted On: October 27, 2008, 8:19 pm CDT

Posted By: stckbyr

Just for the record the American Association for Justice, is made up of plaintiff lawyers--not exactly an unbiased group on this topic.

From the History of the AAJ according to its own web site

On August 16, 1946, a group of nine plaintiffs' attorneys involved in workers' compensations litigation met in a hotel room at the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Their goal was to put together a plan for a national organization to combat new threats facing trial lawyers across the country. It was at this meeting where it was enthusiastically agreed upon to create a new association by the name, the National Association of Claimants' Compensation Attorneys (NACCA). Their devotion to securing strong representation for victims of industrial accidents soon attracted admiralty, railroad, and personal injury lawyers. It wasn't long before the group included attorneys engaged in almost all facets of trial advocacy.

Reflecting its growth and expanded commitments, NACCA changed its name 3 times before 1973, when it emerged as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA). In 1977, ATLA's headquarters moved from Boston to Washington, DC.

In 2006, ATLA members voted to change the association's name to the American Association for Justice (AAJ). Today, AAJ is a broad-based, international coalition of attorneys, law professors, paralegals, and law students.