Howard
Litigation reform advocate Philip K. Howard, author of Life Without Lawyers, is scheduled to speak at a luncheon in Chicago on Tuesday, March 3.
Howard writes that an encroaching legal culture has undermined Americans' freedom in their daily choices and he advocates for "a dramatic spring cleaning" of American law and regulation.
"What is needed is not a reform but a quiet revolution," writes Howard. "This shift in approach is not about changing our goals-almost everyone I know wants a clean environment, safe workplaces, good schools, competent doctors, and laws against discrimination. The challenge is to liberate humans to accomplish these goals. This requires a sharp turn away from current legal conventions-nearly endless rules and rights designed to avoid decisions by people with responsibility-toward law that restores free exercise of judgment at every level of responsibility. We must remake our legal structures so that Americans are free again to make sense of everyday choices."
Howard has also authored The Death of Common Sense.
The luncheon, which costs $35 per person, is hosted by the Illinois Civil Justice League, Madison County Record, The Heartland Institute, The Chicago Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society, Sam Adams Alliance, Lincoln Legal Foundation, Illinois Policy Institute, Chicago Townhall Meeting, and Jayne Thompson & Assoc., Ltd.
It will be held at noon in the Heritage Room at the Union League Club of Chicago. To make a reservation, contact Chris Robling at crobling@jaynethompson.com.
Life Without Lawyers is published by W. W. Norton & Company, and available in hardcover for $24.95. Books will be available for purchase at the luncheon and Howard will inscribe them after his remarks.