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← AMERICAN TORT REFORM ASSOCIATION

Form 990 for tax year 2022

Filed by AMERICAN TORT REFORM ASSOCIATION.

Totals

Total revenue
$4,973,260
Total expenses
$5,289,360
Contributions and grants received
$0
Grants paid
$118,500
Program service revenue
$4,973,073
Investment income
$187
Other revenue
$0
Total assets, end of year
$3,132,323
Total liabilities, end of year
$1,397,015
Net assets or fund balances, end of year
$1,735,308
Program services expenses (Part IX)
not reported
Management and general expenses
not reported
Fundraising expenses
not reported
Program service expenses (Part III)
not reported

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Revenue

Part VIII, the statement of revenue.

  • 2a · Program service revenue: Membership dues and assessments

    total $2,260,418 · related or exempt $2,260,418

  • 2b · Program service revenue: Grassroots program

    total $1,747,748 · related or exempt $1,747,748

  • 2c · Program service revenue: Special programs

    total $958,750 · related or exempt $958,750

  • 2d · Program service revenue: Conferences and other

    total $6,157 · related or exempt $6,157

  • 3 · Investment income

    total $187 · excluded $187

Functional expenses

Part IX, the statement of functional expenses.

  • 1 · Grants to domestic organizations and governments

    total $118,500

  • 5 · Compensation of officers, directors and key employees

    total $600,412

  • 7 · Other salaries and wages

    total $692,981

  • 8 · Pension plan contributions

    total $25,585

  • 9 · Other employee benefits

    total $60,107

  • 10 · Payroll taxes

    total $69,168

  • 11b · Fees: legal

    total $748,852

  • 11c · Fees: accounting

    total $49,629

  • 11d · Fees: lobbying

    total $84,167

  • 11g · Fees: other

    total $2,402,577

  • 12 · Advertising and promotion

    total $9,361

  • 13 · Office expenses

    total $40,737

  • 14 · Information technology

    total $2,239

  • 16 · Occupancy

    total $163,782

  • 17 · Travel

    total $67,108

  • 19 · Conferences, conventions and meetings

    total $138,624

  • 20 · Interest

    total $1,806

  • 22 · Depreciation, depletion and amortization

    total $250

  • 23 · Insurance

    total $11,643

  • 24a · Other expenses: Professional dues

    total $1,832

Balance sheet

Part X, book values.

  • 1 · Cash, non-interest-bearing

    beginning of year $1,313,465 · end of year $939,892

  • 2 · Savings and temporary cash investments

    beginning of year $1,014,930 · end of year $975,285

  • 4 · Accounts receivable

    beginning of year $246,500 · end of year $355,271

  • 9 · Prepaid expenses and deferred charges

    beginning of year $124,840 · end of year $131,219

  • 10a · Land, buildings and equipment: cost or other basis

    $167,194

  • 10b · Land, buildings and equipment: accumulated depreciation

    $166,629

  • 10c · Land, buildings and equipment, net

    beginning of year $815 · end of year $565

  • 15 · Other assets

    beginning of year $298,292 · end of year $730,091

  • 17 · Accounts payable and accrued expenses

    beginning of year $147,926 · end of year $190,568

  • 19 · Deferred revenue

    beginning of year $430,100 · end of year $347,000

  • 25 · Other liabilities

    beginning of year $369,408 · end of year $859,447

  • 27 · Net assets without donor restrictions

    beginning of year $1,611,408 · end of year $825,308

  • 28 · Net assets with donor restrictions

    beginning of year $440,000 · end of year $910,000

Mission and programs · 2022

Mission

The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) is the nation's first organization exclusively dedicated to repairing our civil justice system. ATRA fights in Congress, in state legislatures, and in the courts to create a fairer civil justice system for all. See Schedule O

Activities or mission (Part I)

The nation's first organization exclusively dedicated to repairing our civil justice system.

  • To enhance the fairness, efficiency, and predictability of the tort system through public education and legislative enactments. ATRA accomplishes its legislative agenda by working with state tort reform coalitions. It is a clearing-house for information from approximately 40 state tort reform coalitions. Each fall, ATRA hosts a planning conference at which coalition leaders meet to discuss past successes and future strategies. ATRA also prepares educational materials which carry its message directly to the public. ATRA has developed a communications "tool-kit" for use by local grassroots coalitions interested in fighting lawsuit abuse. See Schedule O

  • To support activities of legislative coalitions in each state by keeping their members informed, mobilizing them for action and keeping media attention focused on the need for civil justice reform. ATRA's weekly "Legislative Watch," available online, via fax and e-mail, keeps members abreast of tort reform at the state and federal level. ATRA's "Reformer" newsletter is a quarterly update of ATRA activities and civil justice issues. ATRA has also published a comprehensive guide to civil justice reform laws in all 50 states.

  • To serve as the nation's voice on lawsuit abuse and the need for civil justice reform. ATRA's media relations program ensures that the media hears both sides of the legal reform debate. ATRA editorials have appeared in such national newspapers as USA Today, and regional dailies nationwide. In addition, ATRA experts have appeared in NBC news, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and many others. ATRA also publishes a legal reform champions list to recognize and publicize the efforts of legal reformers throughout the civil justice community.

  • The "Judicial Hellholes" program will monitor problematic jurisdictions, as documented in ATRA's report "Bringing Justice to Judicial Hellholes", and the judges that preside over them. "Judicial Hellholes" are cities, counties or judicial districts that attract lawsuits from around the nation or the region because they are correctly perceived as very plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions. They are places where the law is not applied even-handedly to all litigants.

As filed on the 2022 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

  • Tamera Velasquez

    Chair

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Robert Levy

    Treasurer

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Keesha-Lu Mitra

    Secretary

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Seth R Lamont

    Immediate Past Chair

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Melissa H Brown

    Chair Elect

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Victor E Schwartz Esq

    General Counsel

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Kyla Christoffersen Powell

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • George E Cox III

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Michael Freeman

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Tim Goodrich

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Markus Green

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Christopher Guth

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Douglass B Lampe

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Michael H Lanza

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Leah L Lorber

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • John Marlow

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Lisa McCraw

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Joe Paglio

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Rich Pianka

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Marcus Rayner

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Karen Sisson

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Thomas N Vanderford Jr

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Andrew C White

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Marta Zaniewski

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • J Stephen Zielezienski

    Board Member

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2 + 2 related

  • Sherman Joyce

    President

    Total calculated
    $600,412
    From this org
    $530,203
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $70,209
    Hours/week
    40 + 2 related

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $530,203
    Bonus
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Deferred
    $44,428
    Nontaxable benefits
    $25,781
    Filer's total
    $600,412

  • Matthew Fullenbaum

    Dir of Legislation

    Total calculated
    $233,369
    From this org
    $216,500
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $16,869
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $216,500
    Bonus
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Deferred
    $9,743
    Nontaxable benefits
    $7,126
    Filer's total
    $233,369

  • Lauren Jarrell

    Dir & Council Civil Justice

    Total calculated
    $203,235
    From this org
    $195,000
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $8,235
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $195,000
    Bonus
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Deferred
    $8,235
    Nontaxable benefits
    $0
    Filer's total
    $203,235

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Answered yes

  • 3 · Compensation survey or study
  • 3 · Approval by the board or compensation committee
  • 4b · Supplemental nonqualified retirement plan

Answered no

  • 4a · Severance or change-of-control payment
  • 4c · Equity-based compensation arrangement

The filer's explanations (Part III)

Part I, Line 4b
Sherman Joyce, President, participated in a nonqualified deferred compensation plan under the Internal Revenue Code 457(f). The contribution to the plan during the year ended December 31, 2022 was $30,703.

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

Related organizations on this return

Schedule R Part II: tax-exempt organizations related to the filer by control. It does not record shared board members or money.

Provenance

Return type
form_990
Tax year
2022
Filed
13 October 2023
IRS schema version
2022v5.0
Source object
202322929349300337

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