Fighting for Plaintiffs’ Rights: Wallace Miller’s Work with the American Association for Justice
Reviewed by Jessica Wieczorkiewicz, Esq.
The American Association for Justice (AAJ) brings legal professionals together across the country to protect plaintiffs’ rights. Wallace Miller attorneys are proud to hold leadership positions within the organization and partner Jessica Wieczorkiewicz attended the 2026 AAJ Winter Convention in February, where she connected with other lawyers and continued to advance her understanding of current issues facing the legal field.
What you need to know about the American Association for Justice (AAJ)
Formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), the American Association for Justice (AAJ) was founded in 1946 to represent plaintiffs’ lawyers in the United States. Operating in the U.S. and Canada with members worldwide, AAJ advocates for injured people, strengthens the civil justice system, protects civil rights, defends the right to trial by jury, supports attorney education, and shares crucial legal information with the public.
AAJ operates a number of caucuses and member groups to help attorneys share their experience and build professional relationships. These include the Women Trial Lawyers Caucus, the Minority Caucus, the New Lawyers Division, and Paralegal Affiliates.
“They do the work to keep the courthouse doors open,” says partner Jessica Wieczorkiewicz, who serves as a co-chair of the New Lawyers Division Education Committee and graduated from the AAJ Leadership Academy in 2025. “AAJ is so important because it advocates for and protects our ability to hold people accountable when they harm others.”
Advocating for a legal system that serves everyone
Laws passed by Congress and other legislative bodies determine people’s ability to file lawsuits and stand up for their rights. But these decisions are often not objective—instead, they’re impacted by lobbyists, individuals paid by outside organizations to advocate for their specific interests in the government.
Large companies spend a significant amount of money every year lobbying to pass laws that help their businesses, with more than $4.5 billion spent on federal lobbying in 2024. Many corporations and other organizations spend this money advocating for limiting legal liability—in other words, preventing injured individuals and consumers from being able to bring lawsuits against them if they put out a dangerous product.
“We need somebody on the other side, and that’s exactly what AAJ does,” Jessica explains. “The organization puts forth advocacy efforts to combat what these big corporations are doing.” Individual plaintiffs’ lawyers often don’t have the resources to lobby independently, so AAJ works on their behalf to keep courthouse doors open. Through their efforts for plaintiffs, they defend the right to sue corporations, pursue trial by jury, and bring cases on behalf of injured parties.
The Wallace Miller team and AAJ
As a national organization, AAJ provides the opportunity to connect with people from all 50 states and share advice, strategies, and resources. Each caucus and committee offers additional programming, networking, and legal education.
As the co-chair of the New Lawyers Division Education Committee, Jessica is responsible for organizing educational programming and outreach to AAJ members throughout the year. This includes webinars by law practitioners across the U.S., lunch-and-learn seminars, and other opportunities to develop legal skills with other plaintiffs’ lawyers.
Many other lawyers at Wallace Miller are active AAJ members. Founding partner Edward A. Wallace served as the co-chair of the organization’s Kugel Mesh Litigation Group for five years, while attorney Kristina J. Anderson is a member of the Women’s Caucus and serves on the Membership Oversight Committee and Convention Planning Committee. All told, more than three-quarters of attorneys at Wallace Miller are active members of AAJ.
Connecting with peers and advancing legal education
In addition to their year-round programming, the American Association for Justice hosts two conventions every year. The value of these conferences lies not only in the full days of formal programming and continuing education sessions, but also the opportunity to reconnect with peers nationwide and build new relationships with other lawyers.
At the 2026 AAJ Winter Convention from February 20 to 24, Jessica had the opportunity to learn about emerging litigation and trial strategy, share her legal expertise, and benefit from the expertise of others. “You can spend all the time you want reading and Googling about pro tips, but the practice of law happens through real-life experience,” Jessica says. “The best way to learn is talking to each other and sharing experiences and how you dealt with an issue that came up in your case and might come up in someone else’s case.”
Learn more about Jessica Wieczorkiewicz in her bio.
Wallace Miller partner Jessica Wieczorkiewicz
