Early in his career as a consumer advocate, Ralph Nader struck on an idea for a new type of organization. "How about a law office that worked for the public's interest—not that of corporations or just individuals?" he thought.

Out of this concept evolved the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). It began its genesis with a staff of twelve lawyers and a physician, each bringing his or her expertise in a different field to the effort.

"It was like a law office, but for public interest," Nader said in Ralph Nader: Battling for Democracy, an authorized biography written by Kevin Graham. "We broke open a lot of new areas for several years. For instance, we were the first to bring action to create nonsmoking sections on public transportation. We presented the idea that nonsmokers had prior rights to those...