COVID-19 Polling – December 2020

Key Findings: 

• Majorities across both parties maintain that elected officials should respond to the pandemic, rather than trial lawyers. 59% say those harmed by the pandemic should get assistance from policies passed by elected officials, versus just 7% who say they should get payouts from lawsuits: this is consistent from October when 63% favored assistance through policy versus 9% who favored payouts from lawsuits.
• Messaging on small businesses receives an even stronger response: 74% say small businesses affected by COVID-19 should be supported by government grants or loans versus 6% who say lawyers should help small businesses pursue legal claims.
• 48% of voters agree law firms using PPP funds for lawsuit advertising is inappropriate compared to 26% who say this is appropriate. This trend holds from October when 62% called lawsuit advertising inappropriate and 24% considered this appropriate; the discrepancy in those who call advertising inappropriate was driven by a greater proportion of Unsure respondents.
• The proportion of voters who say trial lawyer advertisements are annoying and take advantage of people is virtually unchanged from October: 65% said advertisements are annoying and take advantage of people in December, and 66% said the same in October.

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