U.S. Chamber Taps Former RNC Official

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States Chamber of Commerce announced today it has retained Tom Cole as senior advisor to the Institute for Legal Reform. Formerly chief of staff of the Republican National Committee and Oklahoma Secretary of State, Cole has been a high-profile official in Republican politics for over 20 years, both at the state and federal levels.

"We're happy to have Tom on board — he has the nuts-and-bolts experience necessary to take the Chamber's message about judicial elections to the next level," said Thomas Donohue, Chamber resident and CEO. "Ensuring that state and local legal systems have a fair and balanced bench is a top priority for U.S. businesses."

The Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform endorsed 15 candidates in state judicial races in 2000 and 12 of those candidates were elected to office. This marked the first time the Institute for Legal Reform spoke out on state and local elections and, with Cole's help, will play an even larger role in 2002, according to Donohue.

In addition to its judicial election related activities, the Institute for Legal Reform is advocating legal reform on Capitol Hill and has launched the Litigation Fairness Campaign — a national effort to bring about major changes in civil litigation in America. The Institute is currently urging federal class action reform legislation and fighting state-sponsored lawsuits that target legitimate, but politically unpopular, industries.

Tom Cole is president of Cole, Hargrave, Snodgrass, and Associates, a nationally recognized survey research, political counseling, and governmental affairs company. In 1995, Cole became the first Republican ever to serve as Oklahoma's Secretary of State and he also served as Governor Frank Keating's chief liaison to the Oklahoma legislature and the state's federal delegation. He received his Bachelor's degree from Grinnell College, and he holds a Master's degree from Yale University and a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma.

The mission of the Chamber Institute for Legal reform is to reduce excessive and frivolous lawsuits while restoring fairness and balance to America's legal system. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.

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