From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The American Association for Justice, the biggest organization representing trial lawyers, is ramping up its efforts on Capitol Hill and with the administration this week after" Obama "put the group on defense," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Trial lawyers are worried that when the White House and Congress start cutting deals to craft a final health care bill, tort reform could end up as choice leverage to win over Republicans, conservative Democrats and business stakeholders."
  

• "A coalition of unions, community organizations and progressive groups today are launching Americans for Financial Reform, which will call on Congress to set up a system to police Wall Street," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Ethics and campaign finance lawyers around Washington are questioning new guidance issued by Congress on when lobbyists can terminate their registrations," The Hill reports. "The lawyers believe guidance for the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) issued by the House clerk and Senate secretary opens a new loophole for denizens of K Street to avoid lobbying restrictions imposed by the Obama administration. They also see the guidance as conflicting with the actual LDA."

• "The politics of fear began to dominate the health care reform debate Monday -- much as it did in 1993 and 1994 during the fight over President Bill Clinton's plan -- as both sides raged about the dire consequence of each other's approach," Roll Call (subscription) reports.