LITIGATION AND POLITICS: THE YIN AND YANG OF THE WEBLOGS . . . Would you like to be introduced to two litigation-and-politics weblogs you've probably never heard of? They're such opposites, you might call them the yin and yang of litigation-and-politics weblogs.

Let's start with the yang, which as we all know, is the more sunny and bright of the yin-and-yang duality. That would be the new TortDeform weblog, published by the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. Here's its mission:

This blog is being launched in order to offer an alternative, and we believe, more accurate analysis of the state of our civil justice system than that presently provided by the majority of legal commentary blogs.

Over the last several decades, a relentless and more or less successful campaign has been waged by a collection of interests identifiable as the tort "reform" movement, aimed at closing the courthouse door to civil litigants as much as possible. This group strives to make it as difficult as possible for victims of corporate or other misconduct to sue and hold accountable in court those who harm them. Even more detrimentally, this same tort "reform" group has succeeded in shaping and leading important national narratives about the law and lawyers. Now, more than ever before in recent history, lawyers, lawsuits, and an overly litigious society are blamed for everything from the rising costs of health care to the state of the economy.

This blog is being launched to right this imbalance, and to affirmatively engage the tort "reform" movement's ideas in a popular medium that is accessible to lawyers and non-lawyers alike.

What about the yin? Glad you asked. As we all know, yin is the more sinister element of the yin-and-yang duality--sad, dark, and corresponding to the night. That must mean the Texas Shark Watch Blog. Its mission is stated on its front page:

This blog chronicles the evolution of the trial lawyers' approach to dealing with the Republican majority, introduces the key players in the trial lawyers' infiltration of the Republican Party of Texas, and identifies the Republicans who the trial lawyers are seeking to pry away from the party's commitment to a balanced civil justice system.

It's certainly something different. Who publishes the Texas Shark Watch Blog? That's unclear. Yinlike, its publishers seem to be keeping to the shadows. As you'd expect, however, the weblog isn't too dark to have escaped mention on Overlawyered and Point of Law. Those yins tend to stick together.

Related posts:

1. "The Experienced Lawyer and the Law Student Debate Point of Law."

2. "The Experienced Lawyer and the Law Student Debate Willie Gary and Dickie Scruggs."
 

Comments

[Eh Nonymous]

Sneaky of you, Evan. Yang doesn't just mean sunny. It means hard - and not necessarily in a good way. Ever deal with someone too obnoxious, aggressive, and hot-headed to deal with? (I could analyze it using the Traditional Five Elements, too - that'd be earth, air, fire, water, and wood - but won't.) They're too yang.

Yin doesn't mean dark or sinister - not the way you suggested it does.

Ever meet someone so meek, so mild, so accommodating that they left almost no impression on you? Too much yin.

Your admiration for Tort DeForm has little to do with their Yang-ness, and your objections to Tort Re-Form has little to do with how Yin it is.

Still, a nice try at a potent metaphor.

Also, thanks for pointing out the blogs, one policy-oriented, the other results-oriented.

[Ted]

As documented on Overlawyered, Texas Shark Watch Blog is done by Texas Shark Watch, which has an about page. Hardly in the shadows.

Speaking of shadows, it's fascinating how DMI's blogger Cyrus Dugger calls himself a "Senior Fellow." It was just four months ago that he was named the Milberg Weiss Legal Fellow. Is he ashamed of his official title? Did the Milberg Weiss check bounce and they couldn't get a fistful of cash from the credenza to cover it?

[Evan]

Eh Nonymous: Are you saying that Wikipedia is wrong? That would be hard to stomach.

Ted: You might be documenting it on Overlawyered, but the Texas Shark Watch weblog doesn't have an about page or any other information about its publisher that I could find on the blog itself. Hence, "in the shadows."

[Ted]

The omission of an "about" page reflects bad web design rather than something sinister, because several posts discuss the Texas Shark Watch organization.

[The Law Fairy]

Evan, actually the wikipedia page itself decries the notion that yin is somehow "bad" or "sinister." It's a western notion, not an eastern one, that one half of two opposites must be "better" than the other. Also very western (though the east doesn't escape chastisement on this count) to consider the masculine "superior" to the feminine. Hmmm...

[Evan]

Law Fairy: Thanks to your comment and the one from Eh Nonymous, I stand corrected. I'm now on the hunt for new metaphors. Stay tuned.

[Cyrus Dugger]

Wow Ted, you are everywhere. Same party line again and again. Sigh....