Introduction : Civil Justice Fact and Fiction

This is the Introduction to the published Symposium on "What We Know and Do Not Know About the Impact of Legal Services on the American Economy and Policy," held at the University of Texas School of Law in February 2002. It notes that many of the articles in the Symposium cast doubt on claims that "jury verdicts, being both unpredictable and often too large, undermine respect for law and our civil justice system." It also explores the ironic possibility that the most important cause of suspicion about the American civil justice system may not be the system itself but the frequency with which its detractors say that something is seriously wrong with it