Phillip Howard talked about his book Life Without Lawyers: Liberating Americans from Too Much Law (W.W. Norton and Co.; January 12, 2009). Howard uses the stories of real people to explain why he believes the U.S. legal system needs to be reformed. Mr. Howard talked with guest interviewer Joan Biskupic about examples from the book, including how fear of lawsuits has affected classroom discipline, how the culture of litigation evolved, and his ideas for reform. He also talked about the Obama Administration and public responsibility.

Philip K. Howard, a lawyer, advises leaders of both parties on legal and regulatory reform. He is the founder and chair of Common Good. Mr. Howard is the author of The Death of Common Sense: How Law is Suffocating America (Random House 1995) and The Collapse of the Common Good: How America’s Lawsuit Culture Undermines Our Freedom (Ballantine 2002). He is a periodic contributor to the op-ed pages of The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal