Common Good is a nonprofit organization in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 that advocates a basic shift in legal structures "to restore common sense to American law." In June 2008, the organization, founded in 2002 by Philip K. Howard

Philip K. Howard (author)

Philip K. Howard , is an American lawyer and writer. Based in New York, Howard is a noted commentator on the effects of modern law and bureaucracy on human behavior and the workings of society...

, a lawyer and author of The Death of Common Sense, created NewTalk, an online public policy forum that tackles tough issues that are inadequately addressed in the national political debate.

Among the leaders who have participated in NewTalk discussions are New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...

, former Presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley

William Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St....

, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin

Shirley Franklin

Shirley Clarke Franklin is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and served as mayor of Atlanta, Georgia from 2002 to 2010...

, and former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker

David M. Walker (U.S. Comptroller General)

David M. Walker served as United States Comptroller General from 1998 to 2008, and is now the Founder and CEO of the Comeback America Initiative.- Career as Comptroller General :...

.

Common Good advocates, among other things, the creation of special health courts

Health courts

Health courts are proposed specialized courts for handling medical malpractice claims. They are characterized by the use of specially trained adjudicators, independent expert witnesses, and predictable damage awards. Successful administrative compensation systems currently exist in New Zealand and...

 to address medical malpractice

Medical malpractice

Medical malpractice is professional negligence by act or omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient, with most cases involving medical error. Standards and...

 complaints. Pilot health courts are currently being designed by Common Good in partnership with the Harvard School of Public Health

Harvard School of Public Health

The Harvard School of Public Health is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Area of the Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood of Mission Hill, which is next to Harvard Medical School. HSPH is considered a significant school focusing on health in the...

.