I am honored to be joining the DRI Center for Law & Public Policy’s leadership team — Kathy Guilfoyle (Chair), Gardner Duvall and I (Co-Vice Chairs), Steve Puiszis (Immediate Past Chair), Toyja Kelley (DRI Immediate Past President & Officer Liaison), Jill Cranston Rice (Issues & Advocacy Committee Chair), Joseph Hanna (External Policy Allilance Committee Chair), Matthew Nelson (Amicus Committee Chair), Tim Kolly (Director of the Center for Law and Public Policy), and John Kouris (Executive Director of DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar). In addition, Gardner Duvall continues to serve as Legislation and Rules Committee Chair, and I as Immediate Past Chair of the DRI Amicus Committee.
Through scholarship, legal expertise and advocacy, the Center for Law and Public Policy provides the most effective voice for the defense bar in the national discussion of substantive law, constitutional issues, and the integrity of the civil justice system. It is a voice that is heard through published research materials, extensive amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court, the DRI National Poll on the Civil Justice System, practical tools and resources for DRI members, objective counsel to policy makers, and creative public education initiatives.
The Center offers:
Scholarship: The Center’s activities and products are based upon a sound scholarship of the law, the Constitution, and the judicial system.
Expertise: The Center draws upon the collective expertise of its leadership and 29 substantive law committees, composed of the finest defense attorneys in the country.
Education: A primary function of the Center is to provide balanced and impartial educational materials and stimulate discussions with policy-makers and the general public on judicial issues.
Advocacy: Where appropriate, the Center will take formal positions on substantive law, judicial process, and judicial reform from the defense bar perspective and work to communicate those opinions with the intention of affecting public opinion and public policy.