Same leopard, different spots.

NJ Lawyer magazine published a story last week ("Perhaps a new name for ATLA?" May 2,2008 by Dana Sullivan) informing us that ATLA-NJ, the American Trial Lawyers Association, New Jersey chapter, plans to change its name to the New Jersey Association for Justice.  This follows a name change at the national level to the "American Justice Association" and changes at the state level in several states, including Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.

NJ Lawyer reports:

Members are expected to vote on the name change in October.

"This has nothing to do with our not being proud of our being trial lawyers," said Amos Gern, ATLA-NJ president, during the organization's annual Boardwalk Seminar on Thursday in Atlantic City.

Two years ago, the national organization changed its name to American Association for Justice (AAJ), and Gern acknowledged the change was made for public-relations reasons. So now the local unit is preparing to follow suit and eliminate "trial attorneys" from its name.

Despite Mr. Gern's protests, it seems clear that this change is a nationally coordinated effort to hide the fact that these groups work to promote the interests of plaintiffs attorneys, not justice.  This Orwellian strategy will not change the public's mind about abusive litigation, however.