State Bar

Your Aug. 27 editorial, “No Bar, No Defense,” certainly reinforces the idea that some people have short memories, namely The Times editorial board. The state bar did it to itself and did not require help from Gov. Pete Wilson.

It was a very expensive gesture for the state bar to declare its support last year for legislation that would have raised damage limits in medical malpractice cases. Do you recall? That position ignited a furor among business-backed tort reform groups and Republican lawmakers, who saw it as confirmation that the quasi-public state bar had become a political subsidiary of the trial lawyers’ lobby.

The bar’s critics, including many lawyers, see the crisis as an opportunity to force it to reform. The bar continues to fight any reform.

FRANK STEPHENS

Shingle Springs, Calif.