DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar has released a national survey of attitudes on the civil justice system produced for the defense attorneys’ association by Langer Research Associates. Among other results, the national, random-sample survey finds that Americans overwhelmingly oppose two common but controversial practices in class-action lawsuits – the automatic enrollment of plaintiffs on an opt-out basis and the use of low-value coupon settlements. Two-thirds also say individuals should be required to show actual harm by a company’s products or actions, rather than only the potential for harm, in order to join a class-action lawsuit. And just half see most class-action suits currently filed in the United States as justified.