Speakers Philip K. Howard: Legal activist

Philip K. Howard

Philip K. Howard is the founder of Common Good, a drive to overhaul the US legal system. His latest book is 'Life Without Lawyers.'

Why you should listen to him:

We love to laugh at America’s warning-label culture (the bag of airline peanuts that says Caution: Contains Nuts). But more troubling are the everyday acts of silence and loss promoted by the fear of being sued. Your doctor might not speak to you frankly; your kids’ principal might not feel he has the right to remove bad teachers.

Attorney Philip K. Howard founded the nonpartisan group Common Good to combat this culture and reform several key areas of our legal system. Among Common Good’s suggestions: specialized health care courts, which would give lower but smarter awards, and a project with the NYC Board of Ed and the Teachers Union to overhaul the disciplinary system in New York public schools. He recently founded New Talk, with the mission to foster productive, nonpartisan discussion on even more tough issues -- economics, health care, government.

Email to a friend »

Quotes by Philip K. Howard

  • “We’ve been trained to squint into a legal microscope, hoping that we can judge any dispute against the standard of a perfect society, where everyone will agree what’s fair, and where accidents will be extinct, risk will be no more.”

    Watch this talk »

More TEDQuotes…