TED2010: Ten fascinating people you've never heard of: Philip Howard

A partner in the New York-based law firm Covington & Burling, Philip Howard is a crusader against the excesses of his own profession. Howard, author of "Life Without Lawyers: Liberating Americans from Too Much Law," gave a blistering talk at TED about how "the land of the free has become a legal minefield."

He cited the Florida school district that banned running at recess as an example of how "people no longer feel free to act on their best judgment" for fear of getting sued. "People are acting like idiots," he said. "For law to be a platform for freedom, people have to trust it."

Howard pushes for policy changes in health care, education and other fields through an organization he founded, Common Good, which describes itself as "a non-profit, non-partisan legal reform coalition dedicated to restoring common sense to America."