Standing Up for the Rights of People…Not Corporations

For more than 30 years, our goal at HensonFuerst has been to protect the rights of the average person. We strive to make the world a little fairer for “the little guy.” People just like you and me.

But recently, the corporations have been making our job much, much more difficult. Just look at these examples:

• Volkswagen has admitted to illegally altering cars so that diesel cars pass emissions tests even though the cars don’t actually meet emission standards.
• Top executives at the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) knowingly shipped peanuts tainted with Salmonella, which killed at least 9 people and sickened more than 700, with callous emails that said (in part):  “Just ship it,” “Turn them loose,” and “Costing us huge $$$$$.”
• Faulty guardrails are found across the United States, with little being done to test and replace them.
• Faulty airbag systems have continued to be used in cars years after their defects were first suspected.
• Car maker General Motors finally recalls cars with faulty ignitions, a decade after the first death was reported.

These are all examples of how big corporations are hurting us. Sadly, the U.S. Chamber’s Institute of Legal Reform is blaming lawyers—the people who protect the rights of the “little guy”—for bringing too many lawsuits. But consider this: Without attorneys to represent the people, these types of corporate wrong-doings would go unnoticed. In the words of the CEO of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Linda Lipsen:

“We want to thank the Chamber for highlighting the hard work the American Association for Justice and trial lawyers across the country do every day to help protect consumers from the corporate scams and abuses of Wall Street corporations who put their bottom lines over consumer safety. From tobacco to asbestos, the Chamber has never met a defective product they didn’t like and have lobbied for decades to change the rules so they can’t be held accountable by the public.” 

The AAJ is currently fighting a Chamber-backed bill in Congress that would immunize Volkswagen for knowingly defrauding its consumers. At HensonFuerst, we stand with the AAJ in maintaining that the rights of the average person are at least as important as the well-being of a corporation.

We stand for safety. We stand for right over privilege. We stand for our clients, all the way.