THE END OF ATLA . . . It's now official: the members of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America have changed the name of their organization to the American Association for Justice.

Here's an article about the change from Law.com: "It's the End of ATLA -- or of the Trial Lawyers Group's Name, Anyway." And here's some commentary by Bob Ambrogi: "ATLA's Ill-Conceived Name Change."

Ambrogi didn't like the name change much. Since I'd like to include some positive feedback as part of this post, please leave a comment if you're feeling supportive. Heck, leave a comment even if you're not. Since I'm a dues-paying member of the American Association for Justice, you know I'll treat you fairly.

Related posts:

1. "From the Don't-Believe-Everything-You-Believe Department."

2. "Is ATLA Ashamed of Its Trial Lawyers?"

Comments

[Alan]

PR-wise, I think the change is positive. AAJ certainly sounds better than ATLA.

Personally, I don't like the change. I never had a problem with "ATLA" and considered it fairly descriptive of the organization and its goals. If there is a negative implication from the use of the words "trial lawyers" in that title, that does not indicate a name change is in order but rather that a stronger attempt should be made to affect the public perception of the group and its goals. Changing the name merely masks recognition of the group and will not serve to actually affect public opinion.

As it is, without a primer or explanation I often have trouble recalling precisely who or what various groups are or stand for (e.g. ACS). Why should AAJ strive to be similarly confusing to those not in the know?