The Passing of Bill Summers

STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF BILL SUMMERS, FOUNDER OF THE CITIZENS AGAINST LAWSUIT ABUSE MOVEMENT

The following statement regarding the passing on November 30, 2009 of Bill Summers may be attributed to Rossanna Salazar, spokeswoman for Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse, on behalf of the state’s Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) groups. Mr. Summers was president and CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership and founder of the CALA movement in 1990. The statement is as follows:

“We are so thankful for the 20 years we have called Bill a friend, a mentor and a colleague – thankful to have worked alongside him for a cause that was so important to him, to Texas and to a part of our state that he loved dearly: the Rio Grande Valley. To Bill, it was the ‘Rio Grande Valley,’ not just the Valley, and he worked tirelessly on behalf of the region and its citizens, fighting for new jobs, greater access to good health care and better roads.

“Bill was a simple and gentle man who was nonetheless unafraid to take on powerful interests, not the least of whom were well-heeled personal injury lawyers. When he saw firsthand what frivolous lawsuits and abusive legal practices were doing to the Valley and to Texas, Bill decided to do something about it. He was the driving force behind the launch of the first Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse group in 1990. Today, thanks to his leadership, that one group has grown not only statewide but across the country. In Texas alone, the CALA movement counts more than 25,000 supporters and five different CALA chapters among its ranks. And because of this grassroots uprising, Texas is no longer the poster child for lawsuit abuse but a model for civil justice reform.

“Bill exemplified the Texas can-do spirit. And he did his bidding with a unique wit. He was a mild man, but he was often a rascal. We will miss his daily – often multiple a day – email messages with impish jokes and messages. His humor was often directed at himself. After the Legislature named a Valley highway after him this year, he wrote a friend these words, ‘They don’t have enough paint so they will call it BS International Blvd.’

“Above all, we will miss our friend. And our hearts go out to his loving wife Jo, and their family.”