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About Us

Learn More About Common Good

MISSION

Common Good is a non-profit, non-partisan legal reform coalition dedicated to restoring common sense to America. By conducting polls, hosting forums, and engaging with leaders in health care, education, law, business, and public policy from across the country, Common Good is developing practical solutions to restore reliability to our legal system and minimize the impact of legal fear in American life.

HISTORY

Founded in 2002, Common Good grew out of the work of our founder and Chair, Philip K. Howard, author of The Death of Common Sense and The Collapse of the Common Good. In its first six years, Common Good has succeeded in raising awareness of the need for systemic overhaul of American law. We have obtained nationally prominent media coverage, hosted expert forums, conducted polls and studies, and built a coalition of prominent thought leaders, political leaders, policy experts and business leaders.

MAJOR REFORM INITIATIVES

Health Care Reform - The current medical liability system fails both patients and providers. We are proposing the creation of health courts with expert decision makers that will improve patient safety and allow those who are injured to receive swift, reasonable compensation. Our health court proposal continues to gain bipartisan support from medical, patient safety, and public policy groups who recognize the need to restore reliability to medical justice. » learn more

Education Reform - Public schools across the country are burdened by endless laws, rules, and regulations that make it exceedingly difficult to effectively educate America's children. Common Good is proposing ways to reduce the legal overload on public schools, so educators can focus on teaching and running their schools rather than on by-the-book rule compliance and potential lawsuits. » learn more

Civil Justice Reform - There's a lot of discussion today about the need to deter frivolous lawsuits and excessive claims. Fulfilling that task, however, requires judges to make decisions about what's frivolous. Common Good is working to reduce the effects of legal fear on American society and restore trust. In particular, we are calling upon judges and legislatures to create clear standards on who can sue for what. » learn more

Value of Play - Fear of lawsuits, excessive safety regulations, and society’s growing aversion to risk have fundamentally altered the nature of play and recreation in America. As part of our civil justice reform program, Common Good is promoting a more balanced approach to risk in the hope of restoring free play opportunities to America’s children. » learn more

NEWTALK

Launched by Common Good in June 2008, NewTalk (www.newtalk.org) is an online forum for thought leaders that offers a new kind of conversation: one that acknowledges reality, uncovers common ground, and finds a responsible way forward. It takes advantage of the Internet, letting each discussion unfold over several days with notable participants contributing from across the country. Recent NewTalk discussions have included renowned American leaders such as mayors Michael Bloomberg (New York) and Shirley Franklin (Atlanta); former presidential candidates and U.S. Senators Bill Bradley and Bob Kerrey; Edith Jones, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; Mark McClellan, former Administrator of Medicare and Medicaid, and a host of other high-profile thinkers with a wide range of expertise.

ADVISORY BOARD

Our Advisory Board is a virtual who's who of leaders in a wide range of fields: former government officials, including Howard Baker, Bill Bradley, Griffin Bell, Newt Gingrich, Eric Holder, George McGovern, Diane Ravitch, Alan Simpson, and Richard Thornburgh; current and former university presidents, including Bill Brody, Tom Kean, George Rupp, and John Silber; and numerous other leaders in education, healthcare, law, business and public policy.

COMMON GOOD COLORADO

In March of 2006, Common Good announced the formation of its first state affiliate in Colorado. Common Good Colorado draws attention to those areas where the Colorado legal system is not serving the public well, and works with the public and state policymakers to develop innovative and practical solutions. Visit http://commongood.org/colorado.html for more information.

Visit our FAQ page for more information about Common Good’s work.