State Tort Reform

* In “Governor’s Agenda Made Few Gains in Legislature” (Sept. 19) The Times distorted what really happened on the legal reform front in the final hours of the 1995 session. Major reforms to reduce abusive lawsuits and restore balance to the civil justice system were approved by the full Assembly and sent to the Senate--the first time in 20 years that legal reforms have ever made it this far in the legislative process.

We hope that when the Legislature reconvenes in January, members of the state Senate share the same conviction to listen to their constituents, who are fed up with paying for a legal system commandeered by a select few members of the legal profession.

JOHN H. SULLIVAN, President

Assn. for California Tort Reform

Sacramento