Trial attorneys are not the problem

Not long ago, I rewatched the film “Erin Brockovich” with my partner. We had been talking about powerful women—particularly those who are often dismissed because of who they are or where they come from. They had never seen the film, so we watched it together.

That moment reminded me of the many powerful stories told through film, like “The Rainmaker,” “Silkwood,” “A Civil Action,” and “Dark Waters;” films that depict real-life legal battles where private trial attorneys fought for everyday people harmed by big corporate negligence and greed.

These stories didn’t just entertain, they taught us something important; the courtroom is often the last line of defense for working-class people, for families hurt by pollution, for patients devastated by medical errors, and for communities fighting institutional injustice.

The trial attorneys who fight on behalf of these folks are not the problem—they play a crucial role in justice, one that is required only in the aftermath of serious harm.

And yet, in New Mexico and across the country, billion-dollar insurance companies and corporate hospital companies are trying to undermine public trust in trial attorneys. A well-financed misinformation campaign repeatedly claims that attorneys are responsible for the healthcare provider shortage in New Mexico, despite the fact that this issue affects every state.

We are being misled by narratives that protect corporate profit while scapegoating those who fight for accountability.

Let’s be honest, trial lawyers are not the ones closing rural hospitals. They are not the ones cutting staffing, cornering markets, or slashing patient safety standards. They are not the ones refusing to invest in equitable care.

Corporate-owned hospitals, especially those operated by private equity firms, are doing all of that, and more.

In New Mexico, a state in which the majority of the population is Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, the stakes are even higher. Communities already facing systemic racism in healthcare are now being told that efforts to hold negligent doctors or hospitals accountable are the real threat to care.

We disagree. Access to justice is not the enemy of healthcare, it is essential to it.

Peer-reviewed research shows that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, elderly individuals, and women are more likely to experience substandard care and medical harm. For them and so many others, the legal system is often the only tool available to demand accountability. The solution is not to take that tool away but to protect it and to focus reform where it belongs: on profit-driven corporate practices that endanger lives.

We must also name what is too often left out of the public debate: corporate cost-cutting measures, not lawsuits, have devastated our healthcare infrastructure. That is where the outrage should be focused—not on the attorneys fighting for families harmed by preventable tragedies.

Anyone who is committed to racial justice, gender equity, LGBTQ+ rights, economic justice, and community health, should be standing with trial attorneys in this moment, not vilifying them.

Join me in demanding that media, policymakers, and healthcare leaders stop the distraction and misinformation of blaming trial lawyers for this healthcare crisis and instead join those focused on real accountability for corporate actors and real solutions to getting access to safe healthcare.