You "can put lipstick on a pig," the old saying goes, "but it's still a pig."
Perhaps that's an adage that the Association of Trial Lawyers of America should keep in mind.
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But wait: They're no longer the Association of Trial Lawyers of America -- and that's the point.
The Washington Post reports that the group's board voted 91-5 last month to change its name to the American Association for Justice. "Our research shows that if our message is about helping lawyers, we lose," said Kenneth Suggs, the organization's president.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- which often butts heads with the legal profession over tort reform -- was less than impressed. "They can change their name, but it's not going to change how people feel about trial lawyers," Lisa Rickard of the chamber told the Post.
She's right. It will take a lot more than a name change to gussy up the image of ambulance chasing attorneys. As one sage soul has noted, the trouble with trial lawyers is that 98 percent of them give the rest a bad name.
