Lawyers from Little Rock and New York will debate the need for tort reform Aug. 11 at the W.H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
    The debate will be between lawyers Philip K. Howard of the Covington & Burling law firm in New York City and Morgan E. "Chip" Welch of the Welch and Kitchens law firm in Little Rock.     Howard has been active in public affairs for more than 20 years and is the author of several books, including The Death of Common Sense: How Law is Suffocating America, and The Collapse of the Common Good: How America’s Lawsuit Culture Undermines Our Freedom.
    He also is chairman of a grassroots organization, Common Good, a bipartisan group which works to "overhaul America’s lawsuit culture."
    It says fear of litigation "has undermined our freedom to make sensible decisions. Doctors, teachers, ministers, even little league coaches, find their daily decisions hampered by legal fear. Our system of justice, long America’s greatest pride, is now considered a tool for extortion, not balance."
    Welch is a former president of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association and is a member of the board of governors of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
    Welch has been a leading opponent of tort-reform legislation in Arkansas and attempted to strike down a law recently passed by the Legislature by filing a petition at the state Supreme Court. The high court declined to accept the case as an original action.
    The debate is set for Aug. 11 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Herschel H. Friday Courtroom in the UALR law school, 1201 McMath Avenue.
    The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is sponsoring the debate.