From the Madison County Record
Ed Murnane has seen a lot during his time as president of the Illinois Civil Justice League.
He was there when the ICJL first formed on Feb. 1, 1993 and has been working to further its mission to create a more fair civil justice system ever since.
With Friday marking the group’s 20th year of existence, Murnane said the ICJL has expanded its reach over the past two decades and experienced several successes along the way.
“Our organization has proven itself in the past 20 years that it does serve a valuable role in Illinois,” Murnane said, pointing to the ICJL’s involvement in the state’s legislature and judicial elections.
Although the group has seen successes, it actually formed out of failure.
Murnane said the Illinois Business Roundtable, a group of corporate leaders in the state, decided to create an organization that focused exclusively on civil justice issues after they failed to get a tort reform bill passed out of the General Assembly.
That group, he said, saw the success coalitions were having in other states and wanted that to happen in Illinois. A few years earlier, it had created the Texas Civil Justice League, which Murnane said was successful in getting tort reform passed there.
By 1992, Murnane said plans were under way for the ICJL and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect for him.