ABSTRACT
Since the 1960s and 1970s, American society has continuously become more litigious. Those were the decades when consumer and environmental movements gained momentum and government responded with an avalanche of regulations. Books and films such as A Civil Action, Erin Brockovich, and The Rainmaker have popularized the role of lawyers in society and reinforced the culture of a litigious society. Litigation became one of the favorite tactics used against corporations by consumer, environmental, and other public interest groups. For example, seven environmental and public health groups filed a lawsuit in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to block industry-backed rules from the U.S. EPA that would weaken pollution monitoring standards and lead to increased emissions of mercury.1 One of the groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council, has become known as one of the most effective litigating groups on U.S. environmental issues. Almost a quarter of the staff are lawyers.2
