Times Articles on the Tort War, Illinois' Suit Against Countrywide, and Google's Marketing

Recent articles from the Times of interest:

Yesterday's edition contains "Google Tries Tighter Aim for Web Ads" about how Google uses what a consumer searched for a few minutes ago to target ads for that user.  Another article, "Post-Spitzer, A New Breed of Reformer," explores the differences between former New York Attorney General Eliott Spitzer's and the current New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo's approaches to bringing cases against the financial industry.

Here is Wednesday's report on the Illinois case against Countrywide, a case Alan White reported on yesterday.

Last Sunday's issue brought "To the Trenches: The Tort War is Raging On," about business's attempts to take on the trial bar.  Some excerpts:

Businesses count among the victories federal legislation passed in 2005 that made it harder to file class-action lawsuits in state courts, where judges and juries were often perceived as hostile to business. In state courts, where most civil litigation plays out, the number of suits involving auto accidents, allegations of medical malpractice and the like fell steadily from 1995 to 2005, according to the National Center for State Courts. The Chamber of Commerce says the number of megaverdicts for more than $100 million dropped to 2 last year, from 27 in 2000.

NEVERTHELESS, there are battles in individual states over judicial campaigns and legislative initiatives.  * * *

Strikingly absent from debates over who should be able to sue whom, when and for how much is any discussion of the fairest and most effective way to make sure that true victims are appropriately compensated for injuries and that people without authentic injury are not compensated.

“That’s not the conversation we’re having,” because the only voices heard belong to advocates of one side or the other, said Robert L. Rabin, a law professor at Stanford. “Those advocates reflect advocacy interests — that is, either defense-side interests or plaintiff-side interests — rather than some overview of global fairness.”