About ETALA
East Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse (ETALA) is a non-profit, grass roots organization formed by local citizens concerned about the lawuist crisis that exists in our community.
ETALA is dedicated to returning fairness and balance to the civil justice system by educating the public about the destructive effects that lawsuit abuse (including groundless litigation and excessive damage awards) has on the local economy, as well as on local citizens and businesses.
To accomplish its goal, ETALA will present, through the news media and presentations to various civil, legal and business groups, information on how lawsuit abuse is:
- Increasing the costs of products and services purchased by consumers
- Causing the withdraw of worthwhile products and services from the marketplace
- Eliminating jobs and job opportunities for local citizens
- Unnecessarily burdening our courts
ETLA also firmly believes that the basic principles upon which the civil justice system was founded are fundamental to American ideals of justice and fair play for everyone. Accordingly, ETALA is firmly committed to protecting the rights of all citizens with legitimate grievances to have access to the courts and a jury of their peers. However, ETALA considers the system in need of improvement to protect the legitimate rights of citizens accused of wrongdoing as well. To this end, ETALA, through public education programs, will encourage:
- Personal responsibility
- Arbitration and meditation in lieu of litigation
- Jury service
- Reporting barratry
- Learning as much as possible about elected officials, including how they feel about lawsuit abuse
- Sharing experiences and expressing opinions by writing letters to the editors of area newspapers and to elected officials
