New York City – Public Agenda, the nonpartisan policy research and civic engagement organization, announced today that Philip K. Howard, Vice-Chairman of Covington & Burling and founder of Common Good, a non-profit, non-partisan legal reform coalition, is joining its board of directors.

"Philip Howard is an authority on legal reform, especially as it relates to health care and public education, but he brings to Public Agenda decades of experience in public policy cutting across so many issues," said Public Agenda Chairman Daniel Yankelovich.

Lloyd Morrisett, Chairman of Public Agenda’s Executive Committee added, “Public Agenda and Common Good have collaborated on several research projects over the years and we look forward to more joint projects. Mr. Howard’s innovations with online dialogue are also very exciting to Public Agenda and we are going to look for more areas of collaboration in that area."

NewTalk.org, an initiative of Howard’s Common Good organization, presents focused discussions by experts on the most important domestic topics shaping American society today. The online discussion site brings together experts in theory, policy and practice—from academics and lawmakers to admired practitioners—to share their diverse perspectives on pressing domestic issues.

A practicing lawyer and a well known leader of legal reform in America, Philip Howard is Vice-Chairman of the law firm Covington & Burling LLP. In 2002, Howard founded Common Good, a national bipartisan coalition organized to restore common sense to American law. With the cooperation of a number of nonprofit organizations, including Public Agenda, Howard recently founded NewTalk.org.

Howard is also the author of the best-seller The Death of Common Sense and The Collapse of the Common Good and he is a periodic contributor to the op-ed pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He advises leaders of both parties on legal and regulatory reform issues, and wrote the introduction to Vice President Al Gore’s book Common Sense Government. Howard’s new book, “Life Without Lawyers: Liberating Americans from Too Much Law” is slated to be published by W.W. Norton & Co. in January 2009.

Howard has long been active in the civic life of New York City. He currently chairs The Municipal Art Society of New York, and he was Chairman of the committee that installed the “Tribute in Light” interim memorial for the World Trade Center tragedy.

Public Agenda is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a mission to strengthen our democracy’s capacity to tackle tough issues by ensuring that the public’s views are well represented and people have the best possible conditions and opportunities to engage in public decision making. PublicAgenda.org has twice been nominated (in 2005 and 2007) for a Webby Award for best political site.