FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2005
Contact: Bob Weiner/Jon Marcin 301-283-0821 or 202-329-1700
FORMER AMERICAN TRIAL LAWYERS LEADER MARY ALEXANDER NAMED PRESIDENT OF ROSCOE POUND INSTITUTE; CONTINUES BATTLE TO EDUCATE ON RIGHTSOF CONSUMERS AND VICTIMS
(Washington, DC) – Mary Alexander, a San Francisco-based consumer advocate attorney and former president and political action chair of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), was named president of the Roscoe Pound Institute, aWashington legal think tank devoted to education on civil justice issues.
Alexander, as president of ATLA, the country’s largest trial lawyer organization, fought for consumer rights under attack by special intereststhat put profits over people, and led the battle against White House and congressional efforts to strip American families of their legal rights.
In her new role, Alexander willwork to build upon the legacy of Roscoe Pound, Dean of Harvard Law School from 1916 to 1936 and one of the law’s greatest educators, and continue the mission to promote access to the civil justice system through the Institute’s programs, publications, and research grants.
Alexander, named one of the “100 Most Influential Attorneys” in California by the Los Angeles Daily Journal, maintains a widespread reputation for her commitment to the protection of consumer rights. Some of her landmark victories as a consumer rights attorney include: obtaining a $13.3 million verdict for an injured client in Hall v. YosemitePark and Curry Company, securing a $4 million settlement in San Francisco Municipal Railway accident, Landsverk v. CCSF, and obtaining a $4 million settlement in a pedestrian accident, Ruszak v. State Farm.
Alexander asserted, “I am proud of what I’ve done under ATLA, fighting for consumers against large insurance companies who don’t treat them fairly; fighting for the ordinary person; fighting for the voiceless and the powerless. But educating the judiciary and the public on the legal rights of victims and consumers in the current political climate is an equally important and enormous challenge. It’s time to make our message clear.”
While at ATLA, Alexander also helped to create Trial Lawyers Care (TLC), an effort of more than 1,100 trial lawyers who provided help as volunteers to the victims of September 11th. ATLA’s movement marked the largest pro-bono legal effort in U.S. history and represented more than half of the 2900 victims’ families from the TwinTowers, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania attacks.
Alexander will continue to practice plaintiff law in San Franciscoas well as travel to Washington, DC to head the Institute.
PHOTO: Mary Alexander: (small B&W) or (Large B&W) or (Color)
Source: Mary Alexander and Associates; Robert Weiner Associates
(301-283-0821 or 202-329-1700)