From the founding of our country, the 7th Amendment to the United States Constitution has guaranteed every American the right to have a jury decide civil disputes. Unbeknownst to most Americans, including many lawyers, that right is actively under attack by a growing number of large corporate defendants and even gaining traction in some lower courts. Stretching provisions of corporate restructuring and bankruptcy law beyond recognition, powerful interests are working to deprive injured Americans of their right to full and fair jury trials for  injuries, diseases and death resulting from exposure to defective products and other wrongful conduct. The assault on the Constitutional right to trial by jury can only be prevented through heightened public awareness and the actions of lawyers and their clients fighting back in courts across the country and in Congress.

The right to have civil disputes—that is claims for money damages resulting from another's wrongful conduct—tried before a jury of your peers is guaranteed by the 7th Amendment. This bedrock principle of our Constitution and of the American legal system assures that fair, impartial community members serve as finders of fact and a voice of common sense and perspective in resolving disputes between their fellow citizens.