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"WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline)-The nation's trial lawyers group appears to be struggling amid mounting debt and a decline in membership dues.<br /><br />The American Association for Justice, the trade group for plaintiffs' attorneys, had more than $6.2 million deficit in its operating budget for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2008, The Washington Times reported Monday.<br /><br />The newspaper noted that the Washington-based trial lawyers group saw its income from membership dues drop from $28.6 million in 2005 to $19.2 million in 2008, according to a report filed with the Internal Revenue Service. <br /><br />The Times also reported that the AAJ's filings for the past four years show that the group's operating revenue went from $36.7 million in 2005 to $28.6 million in 2008.  At the same time, the group's total yearly expenses remained about $34 million.<br /><br />The figures, which are the most current available, were reported as the AAJ seeks to block legal reforms such as reducing medical malpractice litigation as a part of President Barack Obama's push for a national health care overhaul.<br /><br />Most recently, the association launched an advertising campaign against the Obama administration's plans to allow state-run pilot programs aimed at finding alternatives to lawsuits as means of settling medical malpractice claims. <br /><br />To bankroll its lobbying efforts, the AAJ recently asked its members to send the association much-needed cash, the newspaper reported.<br /><br />"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://legalnewsline.com/stories/510521562-trial-lawyers-group-in-debt>